An Old Foe
by wolfshalom
Summary: Second book to the Experiment and the Admiral (Marcus) has risen from the dead to once again ruin Khan's life.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I wake slowly, my head pounding, my body weak. My vision blurs and I quickly put a hand to my forehead—my head feels like it's splitting in half. I crack my eyes and look around me. Khan is lying awkwardly on the floor and he'll probably have a few cramps when he wakes up but he's breathing.

_He's alive._

_For how much longer, though? _

_A few hours? Days? Months? When are we going to be 'exterminated' and how did he know that Marcus was talking about us and not actual 'rodents'? Why do humans have to be so cryptic? Why can't they just say what they mean?_

I rise from my little bench and my knees buckle underneath me, sending me sprawling into Khan. He moans when I slam into him, but he doesn't stir otherwise (_Jeez, how much did they dope him up here?_). My head feels like lead and I sink into in him.

"Are you awake?" My mouth feels like cotton and as dry as chalk. "Khan? Are you awake?"

He doesn't answer me. I guess he isn't.

Again I try to sit up but again I fall back over so that my head is resting on his side. I sigh and stare at the roof for a minute. We finally escape from one prison only to be thrown into another. It's a good thing I'm an escape artist, but Khan is huge. It'd be more than a little difficult to squeeze him through an air vent. _Darn you technicalities!_

Blackness swallows me again.

When I wake a second time Khan is furiously pacing the length of the cell and glaring contemptuously at the glass. The back of my head is screaming. He must have sat up suddenly and then jumped to his feet, allowing the back of my head to slam into the floor.

_Jerk. Nice to see you too, huh? _

"How do you feel?" I force myself to stand but he ignores me. Right now, he's not a human: he's a caged tiger. He's an _angry_ caged tiger.

"Fine!" He growls and his fist punches the wall. I flinch at the sudden movement. Footsteps approach and an electric current of dread runs through me.

"Hello, Khan." The Admiral stands in front of us and smiles a smirk that is completely void of happiness. "Did you miss me?"

Khan glares at him and if looks could kill, well…you get the idea.

"And look," Marcus glances to me and his smile widens even further. "You brought your daughter!" He chuckles and the hollow sound grates on my nerves. "Now, isn't that just adorable?" He looks back at Khan and Khan seethes.

I take a small step away from the Augment to put more distance between us. He is roughly ten seconds from going feral and killing everyone in this entire compound, and I don't want to be near him when he does.

"And what's going to happen now?" My voice is loud and sharp like a knife and the Admiral's attention goes to me. A shiver flies up my spine but I force myself to hold his gaze.

"Experimentation. Pain. Death." He smiles. "Isn't it wonderful? A few more months and your entire race will be eradicated. Thanks for gathering up all our little lab rats in one place, by the way. That'll make it so much easier to round them up." My heart freezes. He takes one look at my face and laughs while he marches away. Khan shoots me a look of sympathy and pity but I can't look at him. I just single handed threw this kids to the wolves. I tried to save their lives but instead, it seems as if I've just ended it.

And Eli, my brother Eli. He's going to join Star Fleet. If the Admiral is alive, then he's still ruling the organization! He'll unwittingly sacrifice himself—I need to stop it. I need to save them, I need to save him. He'll find my kids and he'll kill them. He'll subject them to horrors beyond even my imagination and I practically grew up with these people's cruel tactics. They won't stand a chance and nobody will be able to help.

No one would probably even care…

Khan slumps against a wall and says nothing. In a time like this, what is there to say? Just hours ago he was dreaming about seeing his people again…now he has to worry about their safety.

"How is this even possible?" He says finally.

I look at him.

He looks small.

Defeated.

Broken.

It's looking in a mirror.

"What?" I ask and I move to sit on the opposite side of the room. His anger was uncontrollable and I'm certainly not going to be near him when it decides to show up again. Contrary to what many people think, despite my rash actions, I am a big fan of self-preservation.

Khan's eyes cut into mine and when he talks his words ricochet painfully through the room like a hailstorm of bullets—an echo of the war that still rages around him: "Marcus is alive. I killed him myself—this is impossible."

"Well, don't you heal quickly?" I ask him. He raises an eyebrow at me and looks at me as if I'm completely brain-dead. After all, that was kind of an obvious question. _Well…I feel stupid._

"Yes." He says slowly as if I'll suddenly be unable to process that single word. I glare at him.

"Well, isn't it possible your people have the same ability? If they do, then Sector 31…or, whoever these people are…well, couldn't they have taken blood from them and given it to the Admiral, which would, consequently heal and revive him?"

"He was dead." Khan says firmly.

"But wasn't Captain Kirk also dead?" His eyes narrow at me but I continue on, "Didn't you give him blood and bring him back from the dead? If your blood can heal someone from radiation poisoning then, in theory, it can also mend a fractured skull, right?"

He blinks at me and my proposal before turning away.

"I didn't give him blood." He snarls as he dismisses my argument.

I roll my eyes, "You're missing my point."

"Which is?" He jumps to his feet and stalks towards me threateningly.

"Well, there are certain… traits that define an Augment, right? One would be rapid regeneration. They wouldn't need _your_ blood. He was—is— a Star Fleet _Admiral_ and in control of _your _people. Who's to say they didn't wake someone up? Use _their_ blood to save his life and then put them back to sleep?"

He blinks the thought had never crossed his mind and I'm beginning to regret that it did mine. With a roar he punches the wall beside my head and it dents inward and forms a small crater. I yelp in surprise and leap away from him as he hits the wall again and again with all his strength. The hard metal screams and snarls as he bends in inwards but he keeps going until his hands are bloodied and he's gasping for breath. His eyes are still angry but his shoulders are sagging with defeat, his head held low. And I don't want to look at the desolated king a second longer; I turn away.

_This is the guy who I got half of my DNA from?_

_Should I worry?_

**…**

I'm forced to fight. Every day they lock me in a room and throw opponents in. I'm given knives but I refuse to kill them like the White Coats want me too. But I won't do it.

I'm not Khan.

I don't see the point in killing these kids. There are, in a sense, 'my people'. We share common DNA, past, and an enemy. If anything, we should be fighting together not against one another. But they don't care. The moment they see me, they lunge for my throat and bare their teeth like animals. Their eyes and wild and crazed like a savage animals and I have to fight to keep them off of me. If I lose my footing, I will lose my life.

So, I force myself to stand and to fight back, but I won't kill them. At the end of the day, they throw me back into the cell with Khan. Neither of us receives food nor water. He looks at but says nothing. My morality is seen as weakness. He's from a world of kill or be killed—there's no room for kindness in his world, no room for mercy. I've disappointed him and he refuses to look at me. At night, the temperature drops to below freezing and we share the small cot. Me against the wall, him between me and the door. A foot of space between us.

I don't like this.

I don't like the isolation or his cold indifference but we both have our own problems to worry about, our own families. If we escape, we'll be running in different directions…and who's to say who will get out alive? It's a violent free for all.

Chances are, I'm the one who will lose. Khan has a lot more experience than I do in this area and if anyone's getting out of this, it's him.

Not me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next day, Khan is gone. They had dragged him away during the middle of the night and he hasn't returned since. And I miss him. Imagine that, I miss the company of psychopathic killer.

_Something is definitely wrong with me._

I'm isolated, starving, and freezing. No one comes in the check on me. Although I'm glad about the distinct lack of being tortured, I still wish someone would come by at at least prve that they haven't left me here to starve to death. Or freeze.

Whichever comes first, right…?

**…**

"So, we're back to our previous arrangement?" Khan growls and his eyes burn into the Admiral.

He wants nothing more than to lunge forward and snap the older man's neck but his loyalty to his slumbering and helpless crew inhibits him from action. To kill Marcus right now would be to personally put a bullet into each and every one of the ones he holds most dear.

"It would seem so," Marcus gives him a predatory smile. "You make my weapons and your crew lives." For now, the unsaid words echo.

"And what about the other experiments?" _Like Ze'eva and her family? The children from the SAR?_

"They won't survive long." He shrugs, "But they're hardly your concern."

Khan's eyes narrow but he doesn't argue against it. Ze'eva was a grown up, it was time she started acting like it. If she wants to live, then she needs to fight for her own life. He had himself and his people to worry about…he needed more to add to his troubles, and a pang of sadness attacks his heart. He didn't want her to die. Truth be told, he was pretty fond of the woman—his daughter, but he had his own problems.

After all, she won't even fight for her own life; why should he fight for her?

**…**

Now he's in a cell. Ze'eva must still be the other one, alone and shivering in the cold. He blocks the image out of his mind and closes his eyes. He needed to think about weapons. The Admiral wanted war, not sympathy. The door in the hallway in front of his cell opens and Ze'eva rushes through it with an attacker hot on her heels. She dodges the assailant's blows easily; she's fast but he's stronger. With one blow, he sends her skittering across the floor and fighting to stay on her feet. Her knife hangs, unused, in its hilt on her waist. She glares at the man angrily. She's panting, trembling from weakness and starvation, and bleeding from multiple minor wounds, but she's alive.

Probably not for long, Khan thinks sadly as he steps up to the glass. She wouldn't kill that man to save her life and he wouldn't spare hers to end his. Khan knows this game only too well: there can only be one victor. The loser will perish.

The man rushes forward and catches Ze'eva by the throat before she can dart away. He yanks her off the ground and slams her against the wall. There's a flash of light and then he's falling to the ground. Ze'eva coughs as her feet hit the ground but she manages to stay on her rubbery legs. Her knife, which is curled tightly in her fingers, is dripping dark scarlet droplets of blood.

Her blue-green eyes stare at the body in a mixture of sadness and shock. Khan presses his hand to the glass and her sad eyes snap up to catch his. Her eyebrows furrow slightly and she glances back down at the body before hurling the knife away from her. It buries itself in the opposite wall and she turns away from him, her shoulders trembling from the storm of tears that she's trying to keep at bay. Khan wants to comfort her but instead he forces himself to walk away from the glass and to lie down on his cot. For him to care about her was bad enough on its own but if they knew about it, they'd kill her or worse use her as leverage.

Another hostage to be used against him.

**…**

"Spock, this can't be possible."

"And yet it has happened, Captain." The Vulcan replies coolly and Kirk turns to glare at his first officer.

"We need to get these kids out of here—now."

"And how would you propose that, Captain? To save them would be in violation of Admiral Marcus's orders."

"And yet I don't seem to care, do I, Spock?"

"It appears not." Spock says.

"If we don't interfere, they will die." Kirk goes on. "We have to help them. Star Fleet is about exploring and helping people. If we leave them here, we may as well throw them under the bus ourselves."

"I was no aware that this planet had buses, Captain."

"It was a metaphor!" Kirk snaps. He takes a deep breath. "Look. We're going to help them and that's an order."

Spock nods slowly. He really wasn't objecting to helping them; in fact, he ust wanted to see how Kirk would react. The Vulcan was already throwing around ideas as to how to save their friends.

"I believe that, thanks to the people Ze'eva allowed us to borrow, the repairs being made on the Enterprise. We would, perhaps, take the children to a safe and undisclosed location—somewhere outside Federation Space." Spock suggests. "We could then run a political campaign against the Admiral and get word to the public of just what it is they do to the 'experiments'. If we get enough support, they may just close Sector 31 down for good, rather than to simply ban if from this planet."

"That would take a while." Kirk says slowly. "But it's all we've got. Gather the others and tell them the plan too. I want Ze'eva's family on this ship. Warn Sarek and see if he can hide Eli and Zero away until we can swing by New Vulcan."

"Sir, Ze'eva's friend, Cassie, has recently obtained a license to fly supply ships on and off planet. Would it be plausible if she were to transport Ze'eva's family? It may be best for us not to know. If we were found out and knew that information…it could have disastrous consequences."

"Good thinking. Now…I have a question."

"Yes, Captain?"

"So, Sarek is your biological father, correct?"

"Affirmative." Spock frowns because he doesn't see where this is going.

"And he's also Ze'eva's biological father?"

"Yes…" Now he knows.

"So, would that make you two siblings?"

"Technically, yes…"

"Wow." Kirk smirks and stifles a giggle.

"I fail to see what is so humorous about the situation. Could you enlighten me, Captain?"

"It's just the thought of you being related to a blood member of Khan's family." Kirk's smile grows and he quickly forces it away. "Well, let's go save some people."

**…**

Ze'eva still hasn't said a word and it's starting to worry him. Khan sighs.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

She glances at him. "Of course, I am. Why wouldn't I be?" She smiles a little but he can see that the joy that usually shines in her eyes is missing.

"Are you sure?" He tries again and she merely shrugs.

"I'm sure." Her mouth says but her body whispers, 'I've seen worse'.

His heart aches for the woman. The world was hard and he had learned to adapt to it, as had every member of his crew. By now, they could kill and not feel a single twinge of sympathy…but Ze'eva wouldn't see that as an advantage. And now, Khan wasn't sure if he could either. Not after living a civilian life for the longer part of a year. He could see why she was so enthusiastic about helping people and he loved to see her face when she was helping out people in the villages. She gave everything she had and then some. She would fight for their lives and never give in. That was strength and was something his people couldn't do.

**…**

"Have you ever danced?" He asked and she turns to look at him blankly.

"What's that?" Her eyes widen a little with curiosity and he sees a spark of life flash in her eyes.

He groans. How can she possibly not know what dancing is? "It's moving your body rhythmically to music." He answers.

"Oh, well, no then. It's illegal where I come from."

He forces himself to continue on. "Fighting is like dancing. Just keep moving and watch your opponent."

"I know how to fight."

"Not very well. You're attack was sloppy."

"But effective."

"You were lucky."

"I'm not lucky—I'm awesome." She smirks and he groans. _This conversation was going nowhere._

"Get some rest." He orders. "We don't know what horrors tomorrow will bring."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ze'eva is screaming herself hoarse and the sound cuts Khan to his very core. Her arms are tied and suspended above her head and her back is bleeding profusely. A thick river of red flows down her back and legs and coagulates on the cold metal floors. Khan's heart sinks as he races the whip again.

53…54…55…

Somewhere around sixty, she passes out and leans limply against the bonds. The scientists who had been in the room smirk and walk out and Khan throws the whip into the wall, hoping is shatters. It doesn't. He moves quickly and uses one arm to support her while the other one shatters the bonds that force her stand upright. Her head droops onto his chest and her blood sticks to his shirt. He can feel his stomach curdling easily snapping the cuffs off her thin wrist.

She moans and he slowly lowers her to the ground so that she lies limply on her stomach and her blood stains his hands. And he looks over her wounds. In some places, that leather had sliced all the way down to the bone and she was bleeding heavily, but she was already beginning to heal. Within a few hours, all she will have left are the scars.

Both mental and physical.

Khan hated them for what they made him do and he longed to see the day that Sector 31 was burned to a crisp and their cruel scientist begged for mercy on their knees. Then, it would be them begging him for their lives. And the lives of their family. And he would kill them and get the justice he so desperately craves…but that day was a long way away at best.

He stands slowly and pretends to be undisturbed by his actions but the shame makes him feel cold and hollow and it tears him apart inside. Ze'eva didn't deserve this but this empty punishment was show of their power and dominance. He walks out the door and leaves her bleeding and cold and helpless on the floor and marches into the Planning Room where the Admiral is waiting for him. Marcus throws a blueprint at his head and order Khan to get started.

He does.

Inwardly, he seethes and desires to wrap his fingers once again around the man's skull, but this time, he'll take the entire head off. _Let's see that Phoenix from hell heal from that._

"She's stronger than I'd originally wagered." The Admiral says. Khan ignores him. "She'll have to pay for that. I bet that she'd only remain conscious through the first twenty or so lashes; I've lost some money this time, it would seem." Rage boils in Khan's very core but he doesn't allow the Admiral the satisfaction of seeing it.

"So, how long do you think she'd survive in the Augmented Halo?" The Admiral grins evilly. "An hour?" He prods. "Two?"

"She's not an Augment." Khan states without emotion. "What would be the point of putting her in that hostile of an environment?"

The Augmented Halo was a simulation in which Augments had to fight off the terrors of the weather and combat large creatures while trying to find food and shelter in which to survive. Very few Augments have ever survived it—only the elite of the elite could make it in there. Ze'eva was right in saying that she was no Augment—she would never survive an ordeal such as that. She wasn't savage enough, she wasn't strong enough.

"Tell you what," Marcus says and he leans in close to Khan's face. "I'm going to put her in there for a few days and three days in, I'll put you in there." Khan frowns. "If you kill her, I'll wake up twenty of your people."

Khan's blood goes cold and he risks a look at the Admiral's old, withered face: Marcus is not joking. He seriously wants Khan to kill Ze'eva.

"She's been causing quite a few problems for Sector 31 during my…absence," Marcus shrugs. "It seems fitting that she should be eliminated, doesn't it? And look, we have a win-win. You get back some of your people and I'm finally able to tie up a loose end."

"If you want rid of her then why don't you merely shoot her?" Khan's voice has a sharp edge to it.

"And where would be the fun of that?" Marcus laughs.

**…**

I'm shoved outside and it's snowing. I have a pale blue jacket on—so pale that it's almost white. On my feet are thick black socks and strong boots made up of a highly durable material. I wear a white tank top and a long sleeved white turtleneck over it. On my hands are pale white gloves and I have on a white backpack as well: inside it is an empty bottle for water, a very basic first aid kit, and a single change of clothes.

My knife is on my waist.

They aren't letting me go. Something is up—something is _wrong_. Ahead of me, a large forest looms but it doesn't look inviting like the one back home. This one whispers of danger and death. To go in there would be to die but here didn't look like a very good option either. I sigh and walk forward slowly, taking in the large looming tree with suspicious eyes. There's something wrong here, I know there is. There's something lurking in the shadows, waiting for me to let my guard down so that it can rush forward and finish me off. I break into a jog and enter the trees.

It'd be better to die in the forest than to live trapped in a lab for the rest of my life.

That night, I bed down in a cave and watch as my breath is transformed into icy clouds. I shiver and tuck my hands under my armpits to keep my fingers warm. Why would they give me a weapon or supplies? These people hate me—what possible incentive could they have to risk releasing a rogue like me? I'd tear them apart without a second's hesitation—they should want me dead…not assist me in my escape. I swallow, unless I haven't truly gotten away.

I find a river and quickly smell the water—it's poisoned. I move on. Wolves had howled during the night and some type of bird 'hooted' for an eternity. If I find that stupid bird, it's going to be dinner. Nothing robs me of sleep and gets away with it!

I force myself to break into a slow run and taste the air: it's crisp, clean, and cold. Movement sounds to my side and I pull my knife out and take careful aim. A small pigmy goat jumps out and I kill it easily with a knife to the forehead. It drops to the ground and I make a fire to cook the meat in. I may freeze, but starving is not an option, not after a week of no food. Now, I'm in my element.

As I eat the roasted meat, I feel my strength beginning to return. I'm in the mountains somewhere. All I need to do is keep moving and they shouldn't be able to find me. If the worse this pace has to offer is wolves, then I'll be perfectly fine. I can't believe I was so worried earlier—this is going to be easy. A few weeks and I'll have my freedom back.

**…**

"Cassie, hey, wait up!" Captain Kirk speeds up and matches his pace to hers. "Listen, I have a plan to save you friend and I need your help."

She freezes. "What do I need to do, Captain?"

"How good at you at flying? I need someone to take her family out of the area and out of Federation Space."

"What Ze'eva and Khan?"

"We're working on something but it may take a week or two to put into effect."

**…**

"You're going to keep the simulation at the usual setting?" Khan scowls and Marcus raises his eyebrows up in mock surprise.

"You disapprove?" The older man leers and Khan smirks.

"I can't kill her if she's already dead."

"I like the way you think." He claps Khan on the shoulder and Khan fights the urge to rip his throat out in retaliation. "You know what? Why don't we just put you in now? It'd save some time."

"I don't care when I go in." Khan growls. "So long as I see my crew again."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Snow crunches under his boots as he glides into the forest armed only with a large, sharp machete. Within a few hours, Ze'eva would be dead and he would have some of his family back.

He would not fail.

**…**

I move quickly through the snow and look around me as I go drinking in the white landscape of the darkness. No Cataclysms scream out warning or prowl through the trees in hunt. I breathes deeply and taste the air. Not even a scent of the monsters lingers in the frigid night air. _Is this what it is like on Earth? To be able to walk freely through the night without having to worry about something trying to rip you limb from limb?_

I like this. I like the silence and the absence of chaos, and fear, and violence. Lifting back my head, I whoop loudly and feel the air push powerfully out of my lungs. _If this is a test set up by the White Coats, let it never end! This place is awesome! Cold, but awesome._

**…**

Khan tilts his head to catch the sound: a silent scream of euphoria. She wasn't far—only a few miles to the north. His predatory sapphire eyes narrow. _This was too easy._

**…**

I'm running through the snow and I freeze when a whimper greets my senses. A smile breaks free.

"Amichai!" I shout and the small wolf pup leaps into my arms and his tiny pink tongue swipes gently over my nose. I hug him close and smile into his soft silver fur. "What are you doing out here?" I ask the small pup and he wiggles happily in my arms and nuzzles into my shoulder. Again, I laugh before tucking him into my jacket to help keep her warm. A speaker crackles and I wince. It's the Admiral's voice.

What does he want?

"Well, boys! If you see Experiment number 7777, kill it on sight! She may look like a woman, but trust me—that thing is not human! The first one to get me her head gets a pay raise!"

Voices shout excitedly and my heart hammers wildly in my chest.

_That's me! I'm 7777! They're going to kill me!_

I don't hesitate: I run like a jack rabbit being pursued by a pack of rabid jackals. The hairs stick up on the side of my neck as their shouts begin to get closer. My eyes rapidly dissect the landscape before discovering a slight depression in the snow. I race for it—it's a small underground the cave. I slid into it quickly and rebury the entrance. Amichai snuggles closer to me and I curl into a ball, shivering as both fear and cold slice through by bones and freeze my blood. I curl into myself and feel hot tears burning down my cheeks and then the uncomfortable sensation of the moisture beginning to freeze.

_This was not fair. I am one and they are many—what is a mere cub going to do to save my life when it can't even hunt to its own? But, then again, maybe that's the point. Maybe, I'm not meant to survive this. _

_I'm meant to perish at this facility. _

_This is must be the ultimate test: the test of survival._

That night, I light no fire.

**…**

Khan moves through the night like a shadow. He watches irritably as Marcus's soldiers clumsily rush past him, unaware of the danger that lurks in their mist. They roar and cheer loudly and make all kind of racket—these warriors were not assassins: they were barely even men. Ze'eva would hear them from miles away and would have already raced off to seek shelter if the Admiral's booming orders weren't enough to make her run. She could be anywhere by now.

And now, he had competition to get his kill.

To lose this devilish race would be to watch twenty of his own men perish at the Admiral's hands. Ze'eva may have been a good person, but she was only one person. She was not an Augment—she was not superior, and she refused to kill in order to defend her life. Morality was the greatest weakness to infect mankind and when he got his people back, that would be the first thing they crush.

He breathes deeply and once again begins to hunt his prey.

_Did she even know what her fate was to be? Had they told her yet that he was to be the knife that slit her throat, and that it was to be his hand that crushed her bones, and squeezed the air from her burning lungs? Or would she still see him as a friend? A protector?_

_A father…?_

He swallows. Well, it didn't matter now, did it? Her fate was already set in stone. No matter where she ran now, he would find her. And he _would_ end her for his crew.

For his family.

The thought doesn't bring him any joy. Inside, he feels numb and detached from reality. His chest burns dully with an undercurrent of electric sorrow but he refuses to acknowledge it. His movements are fluid but mechanical. His mind seems to be full of cotton.

Yet, still he moves onward with the promise of blood ringing in his ears.

He had killed thousands and listened, uncaringly, as they pleaded and begged for their lives before he cut them short. Ze'eva would be no different. In the end, she was just another body for the burn pile.

Another name to be added the list of the dead.


	5. Chapter 5

**There may be a few grammatical mistakes in here. I've reread over it but right now it feels like my head is full of cotton: I seem to have caught a friend's flu or something. Hopefully, I will be feeling better by tomorrow.**

**Chapter 5**

I stay in our shallow cave until morning before slowly lifting my head past the lip of the cave. All clear. Amichai snuggles into me and I shiver as I force myself out of our safe little hidey hole from the world. It's only a matter of time before they catch up anyway. What I need to do is escape. So, I swallow my fears and walk through the trees slowly on weak and wobbly legs. My ears drink in the noises of the forest around me and I find myself being suffocated from the quiet sounds of Earth forest animals: squirrels, wolves, foxes, deer, owls, sparrows, small goats _(what the heck are _they_ doing in the woods? Don't those things live in the mountains…?)._

They're everywhere, and despite their silence, they are so LOUD!

I want to kill every last one of those stupid furry creatures. Slowly, I move towards another stream and sniff the water experimentally before setting Amichai down: it's not toxic _(finally clean water!)._ I fill my water bottle, and he quickly laps softly from the stream. My eyes scan the distant bank for danger, but, so far, so good.

No one seems to know where we are.

Yet.

When the cub has drunk his fill, I slip him back into my coat and continue to walk. In a few hours, I'll stop and we'll share a rationed meal of goat's meat. My fingers slide over the hilt of my Cataclysm tooth knife. They may have guns, but they've never seen someone like me handle a blade.

But that doesn't mean that I'd even have half of a chance to win my life.

"Well," I look down into Amichai's pale blue eyes and smirk sadly. "We better be off, huh?" He barks softly and snuggles closer to me. "I'll take that as a yes, dude."

**…**

It is days before I see him. He's hiding in the shadow of a large oak tree. His eyes are sad but somehow…they're also sort of distant and they burn with a quiet but cruel fire. He's lost weight and won't meet my eyes. He walks towards me stiffly.

"Are you alright?" He asks and his voice sounds dead.

And lifeless.

"Yeah…" I have a bad feeling about this. Something is wrong—this feels like a trap, but that can't be right. He'd have warned me if something was amiss or if there was danger nearby. This is Khan for crying out loud! He was weird sure, but he wouldn't put me in harm's way. "What about you, Khan? Are…are you alright?" I ask and I tilt my head to the side curiously as I asses him.

He smiles wryly at some unheard joke and I frown at him. _What's going on here?_ I pull some goat meat out of my pack—maybe he's just hungry—and I hold it out to him.

"When was the last time you've eaten? You look like you've lost some weight." I ask and his eyes shimmer with guilt and tears, but what could possibly make him feel guilty or sad?

He doesn't reach for the meat. Instead, he swallows almost imperceptibly and his hand inches towards his waist on which sits a large gleaming machete. But Khan wouldn't hurt me—he's my friend. We've laughed together and saved each other's lives. We've talked about life and had some family-like moments.

He wouldn't hurt me.

His hand closes about the hilt and my heart rate speeds up.

He won't hurt me.

He unsheathes the blade in one fluid motion and his eyes harden when he looks at me. I find myself backing away slowly.

He won't.

The knife flies at me and I jump wildly to the side. The blade nicks my shoulder and a small trickle of blood begins to run down my hand. Wildly, I turn and flee into the forest. With a roar, he rushes after me like a tiger rushes after a springy antelope. I bite back a scream as I rush through the trees and Amichai whimpers into my arm at my sudden erotic movements—I don't pay attention to him. If anything, I run faster.

My blood sings through my ears and my feet devour the snow covered ground, but he's right behind me and he's angry. His breath bursts from his chest ragged and quick and I can almost feel it on the back of my neck. I find myself tenses as I rush around a quick bend, bringing us towards a raging river and twists and bunches into the frost air. I shudder but don't slow.

I don't know to swim.

And the water looks incredibly cold and uninviting.

_Is he going to make me jump in? Is he trying to kill me or was he throwing the knife at something else? Maybe there was an enemy behind me that I didn't hear…Khan wouldn't attack me. He's my friend. We may not always get along, but he's never truly tried to harm me before now nor I him. Besides, what would he possibly want me dead for? He doesn't care about the Admiral or whatever pathetic 'reward' he has in mind for his soldiers._

But I don't slow down to find out.

I don't want to be wrong.

**…**

He runs after her and hinds himself slowing down to a stop as they reach the river bank. Ze'eva continues to run wildly; she drawls even with the water and runs parallel to the river to a while before racing into the trees. Khan doesn't bother running after her. She had already proven that she could outrun him: there would be no point in chasing after her, not now. With a sigh he retraces his steps back to the small clearing they had been in earlier and quickly locates and sheathes his knife.

He couldn't do it.

Shame and anger boil within him when he thinks of the look of confusion and sad betrayal that had gleamed in her pale blue-green eyes when he had thrown the knife and his hand burns with the memory. If he kills her, he loses a family member, but if he lets her live, he loses his entire family. Marcus would have no qualms about killing each and every last one of Khan's people, and Khan knew that the old man was currently laughing at Khan's predicament. Khan sits on a boulder and begins to think rapidly. He needs to do something. To do nothing would have disastrous consequences for him and the other Augments.

But what can he possibly do?

Help her escape? She'd only run back to her planet to save her family and only wind up getting captured again. It was obvious enough that they were in a huge Star Ship, possibly one modeled off of the _USS Vengeance_. Ze'eva had never been off planet and her options are limited as to where to run. Earth and New Vulcan were out of the equation: both were in Federation Space. She'd never survive long in Klingon Space, not being as weak as she is…

He doesn't want to harm her, let alone kill her, but he doesn't want his family to suffer either. With a snarl he hurls a stone the size of his head across the clearing. It hits a tree and slices easily through its thick trunk. Rising to his feet, he begins to jog through the forest as his mind growls angrily at what he had almost done.

Khan had once overheard Ze'eva telling Cassie that Khan wasn't a savage animal.

Apparently, she had been wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

I run for hours. My lungs burn and my legs ache from the prolonged exercise, but I'm afraid to stop lest someone dangerous catch up and try to finish me off. All around me I can hear the soldiers laughing and crashing through the underbrush. But so far, they haven't noticed me. Gasping, I double over and fight to get my breath back.

_Why did Khan try to kill me?_

I push the thought away quickly.

_Forget about it. If I want to survive this ordeal, I'll just stay away from him. The soldiers are too boneheaded to find me which means that Khan is probably the worst thing this place has to offer. If I avoid him, then I should be alright. I'll just keep heading north and see where that takes me. Maybe I can I village and get ahold of a ship or something…and I'll just leave this place behind. Pretend it never happened..._

I take out some of the goat's meat and share with Amichai. Together we finish it off and drink once more from a nontoxic stream. I find a small cave for us to sleep in. My eyes close and then I'm gone, this cold world forgotten as my dreams carry me away.

**…**

_I'm flying in my ship, the _Wolfsong_. Cassie is sitting in the back and I scream excitedly as the ship breaches past the atmosphere and a whole army of stars shines at us. We cheer and whoop in triumph. Cassie works on her patient who is suffering from severe internal bleeding, multiple broken bounds, and mild respiratory distress…_

_It wasn't looking good._

_Cassie stabilizes her patient and breathes a sigh of relief. _

_"__You know what?" She smiles. "I'm going to be a doctor one day. This medical stuff isn't so bad."_

_"__Hey," I grin back at her. "As long as you don't aspire to become a chef and kill millions through your cooking, I'm happy." She glares at me and I laugh._

_"__So," She moves to wash her hands in the sink and I crane my neck to look at my monitors: nothing. _So, Star Fleet hasn't detected that we've left the atmosphere yet: good._ "Are you worried, yet?"_

_"__Worried?" I look at her and frown in confusion. _What do I have to worry about besides getting shot out of the sky by a peaceful organization of explorers…?

_"__Yeah, you know—about Eli going to Vulcan to learn their culture—you know, since your guys' dad is Vulcan. Doesn't that concern you?"_

_"__He'll be fine—he's a smart kid; besides I can imagine far worse scenarios."_

_"__Oh, yeah?" She throws a towel at me and I dodge easily. "Like what?"_

_"__Weren't you listening earlier? You're cooking!"_

_Something slams into the ship and Cassie lurches to the side._

_"__Strap in!" I order quickly as another collision makes the ship rock violently into the side._

_"__What's going on?" She shouts. "What is it?"_

_"__Star Fleet." I say darkly. "This is Ze'eva Harrison: we are an unarmed vessel and are preforming an emergency experimental medical procedure. Do not attack—we mean your ship and crew no harm." I can see their guns warming up as they ignore my words. "We are unarmed! Do not attack!" _

_Their weapons begin to fire at us and I dodge the incoming horde wildly. My engines scream and my stomach lurched with the movement but I don't slow-I go faster._

_I point the nose of the Wolfsong at our planet and we howl loudly into the atmosphere as we dive-bomb our large blue planet. Photon blasts rush through the air where we had just been; I press down harder to increase our speed still more. If we go any faster, we'll risk burning up before hitting the surface of the planet. Cassie screams as the world starts to blur from the speed. My head pounds and the _Wolfsong_ is soon engulfed by huge red flames as the planet's gravity fights to drag us back to its rocky surface: I let it._

_Cassie curses loudly. _

_"__What's wrong?" I ask as I settle us on a mountain top and pant to get my breath back. For a minute, a wave of lightheadedness floods my system and rest my forehead against the wheel of the plane while I shut down my bird. "Are you injured?" I look back at her and the world tilts dizzidly. I can feel my lunch start to rise up my stomach-I am never going that speed again._

_Ever._

_"__No, I'm not hurt...but he died." She looks at her patient and sighs._

_"__I hate them." I growl. "This is all their fault!" I hit my chair angrily and force myself to stand. I can't-I fall back into my chair and the world spins a few minutes longer. Swallowing, I force myself back to my feet and lean against my chair and continue on angrily: "If they hadn't gotten involved you could have saved him!"_

_"__And what would that accomplish?" She asks sadly. "Would it bring him back, Ze'eva? What's done is done. There's nothing more that we can do."_

_"__I hope they all die! Those stupid…!" I rant angrily._

_I don't even know what to call them, I'm just so angry! We had risked our lives to get him away from the Cataclysms that were trying to devour him and Cassie could have helped him—I know she could! With the lower gravity, it would have put less stress on his heart which should have (theoretically) lessened the effects of his internal bleeding—it should have worked! Why did they have to shoot us? We weren't even near them!_

_"__Just let it go." Cassie sighs. "We'll save the next one, okay?"_

_"__The 'next one'? We should have saved _this one!_ It isn't fair! I hope their ship catches fine and they all burn!"_

_"__It wasn't the crew's fault. Heck, it may not have even been the captain's—maybe he was just following orders. Just it go—it doesn't matter," Cassie reasons._

_"__Who cares? Those stupid 'orders' got that boy killed." His heart couldn't take my erratic maneuvering as I dodged enemy fire or the wild speed I had used for us to escape. Had they never shown up, I never would have had to make that call._

_And he would still be here._

_"__And I should just 'let it go'?" I question at her angrily. "He died because of them!"_

_"__Maybe they didn't hear your transmition."_

_"__My communications unit is perfectly functional, _thanks._" I glare at her. "I should go bomb them by their life support systems. That way, no one else would die because of their actions ever again."_

_"__And what would make you different from them, then? Hm? They make you angry so you kill every last one of them?" Her eyes narrow at me and she jabs my shoulder when she speaks: my shoulder hurts now. "That's not justice." _

_She jabs me again and I consider breaking every last one of her fingers._

_"__And where was your _'justice' _when he was dying? Where was _your _justice when that beast _they_ created was ripping him apart? Did they kill your justice too or did it never exist?"_

_"__You're better than that, Ze'eva. Murder isn't the answer. This matter can be resolved peacefully." She stops jabbing me._

_I inhale deeply and sigh as I contemplate her words. She was right; I didn't want to admit it, but she was…sadly, correct. Killing them wouldn't change anything…even if it would make me feel better. Dead was still dead, and that kid wasn't going to come back any time soon. Attacking them would do nothing but bring on more massacres and bloodshed. We needed to find a peaceful solution._

_"__So, are you feeling better yet?" She asks._

_I shrug, "Sure, why not?"_

_"__Alright well…let's go bury him, I guess." She says and I follow at her heels._

**…**

I jerk awake and look up at the sky. There are no stars, no moon. I frown as the sky seems to glitch a little like a faulty television set: the sky was a hologram. _Was this all just a very large room or something?_ Quietly, I slip out of the cave and Amichai yawns loudly and stretch like a cat before padding softly after me. I inhale deeply and can just barely taste the stale and sterile scents sighing through the air.

_What in the world?_

**…**

Khan leans back lightly against the bow of a tree and watches Ze'eva as she looks around. Her wolf pup, Amichai, walks quietly at her heels. So, she was finally catching on, huh? Good. She'd need to know what she's up against if she's going to get out of here. Marcus will be getting bored soon and will probably switch these rookie soldiers out for true assassins. He sighs and walks towards her camp slowly.

Ze'eva's head snaps up as she catches the noise of Khan's feet crunching in the snow but she doesn't flee.

"Khan." She says. "What are you doing here?" Amichai growls warning at him but he shrugs it off. When he comes in sight, she backs away from him and eyes his weapon distrustfully. He pauses before throwing his machete on the ground. Truth be told, he didn't even think she would have lingered this long knowing that he was in the area. He expected her to turn and run away again or to attack him...well, no. Maybe she wouldn't attack him-she wasn't stupid, after all. Or suicidal for that matter.

"I need to talk to you." He says softly as he approaches. She tenses but doesn't flee-a good sign.

"About?" She narrows her eyes and picks up Amichai before he can rush forward to sink his needle like teeth into his ankle.

He walks past her into the cave, leans against the wall, and motions for her to sit.

"About why I tried to hurt you." He laces his fingers together and puts them under his head casually in an effort to put her more at ease.

She looks at him carefully for a minute as though trying to read his intentions before slowly walking into the cave after him but she still puts as much space as possible between them.

"You tried to take my head off," She points out but she sits near the entrance of the cave and looks at him expectantly as she waits for his explanation. Amichai continue to bristle and snarl at Khan and he smirks at the pup before looking back at Ze'eva.

"Marcus has my crew." He says. "If I am to save them, I must kill you." He shrugs and moves his hands to his knees.

"Then kill him and take your people back—there's no reason to involve me in this stupid game."

He sighs. "If I try to find my family, he'll kill them."

"I have no intention of dying in the near future—find a different solution. You're a genius, right?"

"I don't want you to die: I have an idea for you to escape."

"And the other Augments? Won't they get hurt or whatever if you help me?"

"They're my people; let me worry about them."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Something explodes and I can hear the Admiral's people screaming. I press myself closer to the ground and watch as they run past, shooting wilding over their shoulders as another explosion hits—idiots. They'll only make it worse. They run out of the forest and through a glowing rectangle that appears out of the horizon—a door.

I stand quickly and race after them. Khan roars behind me and I can feel his machete graze my ear as it sails past. The rectangle begins to shrink as the door closes—I speed up. Khan continues to scream angrily after me. I run into the light and screw my eyes shut as I'm blinded by the blinding white lights all around me.

The door closes loudly and I can hear Khan slamming his fists into it as he pretends to be angry over me escaping. The Admiral will see our little ruse. Khan's people would—hopefully—live because Khan seemed to be trying to follow the Admiral's orders and I would get away.

It's a win-win for both of us.

Sort of.

I mean...I get freedom and he get's abandoned to his fate with the rest of his crew, but Khan is nothing if not resourceful. If he says that he will rescue them, he will. I just have to hope that this isn't a trap and that he isn't sending me right into the jaws of the beast...

Now I just had to figure out how to get out of here and find the hangar bay. Khan could handle himself and he'd need time to locate his crew. What I needed to do (according to Khan) was to get far away, hide, and worry about myself. Yeah, good luck with that.

I shove Amichai into my shirt and run quickly down the deserted hallways. Where did the other guys go?

**…**

_Khan stood to leave and I had risen too. _

_"__I have a question." I said quickly and he cocked his head at me curiously. "Have you ever met someone named Rose?" He froze and his eyes had gone wide with shock._

_"__What did you just say?" He demanded quietly and I flinched. His voice was quiet and filled with venom. Had he screamed, I would have been more at ease than I was then with his quiet, dangerous tone. "Well?" He growled and I had shrugged._

_"__Rose…have you ever met someone named…Rose…?"_

_"__How do you know that name?" He glared at me and stalked towards me furiously. I didn't get it. Why was he so mad? What did I say?_

_"__Well, I found a diary while exploring some ruins a while back…it sounded like she was an Augment…I just…wondered if you knew her is all. I didn't mean to offend you or anything." I shrug and try to calm my frenzied heart. Khan had paused as though sensing my terror and then forced himself to move away from me._

_"__I'm sorry." He says and his blue eyes had looked at me almost pleadingly. "She was someone that I had…cared deeply about."_

_"__Was she a member of your crew?" I ask._

_"__She was my wife." He corrects. "And she left when the humans had turned against us."_

**…**

I turn a corner and see a few blue shirts on the ground. Quickly, I slip one on and continue moving. I jump into a supply closet as a few officers come in sight. They don't see me. Food and medicine line the shelves and I waste no time in filling up a bag full of the necessary supplies. I grab a black cap and pull it low over my eyes and twist my long black hair into a ponytail. Now I should fit in a bit more. Amichai yawns against my chest and pokes his furry head out of the hole by my neck and licks my nose. I wrinkle my nose at him and swipe my wrist across it to wipe away the saliva before pushing him back down.

Within minutes I'm in a small ship and flying quickly out of the hangar bay and towards freedom. Amichai sits in the copilot's chair and he howls happily when he sees the stars through the windshield. Home, here I come. I smirk and my heart breaks for Khan. I really hope that he's okay but, at the same time, I worry about the prospect of him getting his family back. _But what if he turns evil again and tries to kill everyone with a whole Augmented army to back him up?_

We wouldn't last five minutes.

He could have an entire planet on its knees within minutes if he wanted to and he'd probably just laugh as he pressed the detonation button and killed everyone. Men. Women. Children. Millions would perish as he and his crew moved from planet to planet and single handedly destroyed Star Fleet and anyone else who wronged Khan or who they deemed to be inferior.

But I have to have some faith in him. He's gotten better since I've been working with him and forcing him through those anger management courses…but will it be enough?

**Okay, I'm starting to feel better and there seems to be less cotton inhabiting my skull and I can think a bit more clearly. This chapter is EXTREMELY short because I plan on doing a major time skip next chapter (only skipping about a year or so ahead but I figured it'd be easier if I broke it up.)**

**Sorry if it's seemed a bit boring lately, things will start to pick up (hopefully by next chapter). Also, I know the flashback is (more than a little) out of place but I couldn't think of another way to work it in and it will be important later on. Well, review and tell me what you think and I'll try to implement whatever ideas or suggestions that you guys come up with (with reason and if it follows my general outline of the plot.)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

*****2 years later*****

The huge transport ship screams as it breaks into the atmosphere and catches fire. With a deafening shriek it crashes into the ground and sends up a large cloud of brown debris. It skids across the land and crashes violently into a cliff. Boulders rain down on it from the impact. No one gets out.

Khan watches from a distance and slowly approaches the wreckage with his phaser drawn. He creeps inside and begins to look for signs of life. Both the pilot and copilot are dead as are their security detail: all are—or _were_—Star Fleet officers. _What are they doing way out here, outside Federation Space?_ Khan frowns and his blue eyes blaze. Someone was going to come looking for them eventually. He stands and creeps into the cargo hold. This was a supply ship. It was unlikely that it had just 'wandered off course' and 'just so happened' to land on this planet off all places.

_So, what were they transporting and could their cargo have to do anything with their deviation from standard trade routes?_

His icy eyes adjust quickly to the dim lighting and he looks around carefully. Something growls low and threatening behind him and he wheels around and shines a small flashlight at it. A large emancipated gray wolf snarls at him and its golden eyes glare at him distrustfully as he walks near. The animal is chained to a wall and beside it a human looking figure is also being held captive and it, too, is chained to the damp walls. Khan takes a step closer to the human and the wolf snarls louder, its hackles raising furiously. It bares its large white teeth and lunges at him. Khan pauses and he tilts his head at the animal as he considers it. Then he notices a worn leather collar fastened about its neck. Khan kneels down and scrutinizes it from a distance and he can just make out the small letters carved into the weathered leather: A-M-I-C …

He can't see the rest.

"Amichai?" He purrs quietly and the wolf's ears shoot up with recognition but he doesn't stop growling at Khan.

He's no longer a puppy and his grey head could easily reach Khan's waist. The wolf is thin and weak but he glares at Khan defiantly and snarls when the man moves. His golden eyes track Khan's movements disdainfully and he bristles without any provocation when Khan creeps forward. His coat is dirty and matted and Khan can easily count his ribs through the wolf's thick gray fur.

He approaches the wolf cautiously and he pauses an arm's length away. He slowly extends his arm out to the wolf to let it catch his scent and his icy blue eyes look meaningfully into Amichai's burning gold ones. Amichai sniffs the air feverishly and slowly, his hackles begin to flatten. He whines and tilts his dry nose towards the human and pleads with Khan with his large golden eyes.

"It's alright." Khan purrs quietly. "It's me."

Khan's attention flicks back to the human and he checks it for a pulse: it's alive.

Blood trickles and matts into the dark hair on the back of its head where it slammed into the wall upon impact and small rivers of blood flows from its wrists where the cuffs bit into its flesh. Khan takes the restraints of easily and better examines the wounded person and tilts its head from side to side so he can get a better look. Amichai growls at him warningly as if to tell him not to harm his unconscious friend but Khan had no such intentions—not yet, anyway.

He shines his light on it and his breath catches: Ze'eva.

He breaks the restraints off of Amichai's neck and carefully wraps Ze'eva in his long black coat before lifting her gently into his arms and carrying her outside into the blinding snow. Amichai limps beside him and shivers weakly. His ears flatten down as his golden eyes glare at the snow disdainfully and he glances at Khan as if to ask 'do I have to'?

Khan shrugs at him.

"Don't look at me—I walked here." He growls and they begin their long trek.

**…**

He deposits her in the spare room and puts his hand to her forehead. She flinches at his touch as his cool palm meets her burning forehead. She's thin and feverish, her clothes hand off of her loosely. He sighs and swallows down rage. If those men weren't already dead, Khan would enjoy ending their lives as slowly as possible because of her current physical condition. Amichai lies quietly at the foot of the bed and rests his head on his paws while he watches Khan tend to Ze'eva.

When Khan finishes, he grabs Amichai by the scruff of the neck and drags the growling wolf to the bathroom and forces the writhing animal into the tub. Water flies as Khan gives Amichai a bath. When he's done, he glares at the wolf and at the water dripping off of his clothes. Amichai opens his mouth wide and grins at Khan before swiping his long pink tongue over the man's face. Khan growls and shoves the wolf out of the bathroom.

"I leave you alone for a few hours and you tear the bathroom apart." A woman smirks. "And look at what we got here. You brought home a pet. Strange, I didn't take you for the sentimental 'save the wildlife' type of guy." She gives him a peck on the cheek and he glares at her. "Well, I'll make dinner while you clean up all…this." She motions to the bathroom and Khan sighs with resignation. "You better hope that thing is housebroken." She nods to Amichai, "Any 'gifts' he leaves are your prerogative, Mr. Singh."

"Of course, but first..." He smirks mischievously and wraps her into a hug, plastering water and wolf fur all over her front.

"Khan!" She laughs and tries to pulls away and the two roar with laughter at her failed attempts to escape.

"Me two, Daddy! Me two!" A male toddler with dark hair and pale blue eyes demands with a cherubic smile as he wobbles unsteadily towards the couple, and Khan scoops him up easily to his chest and gets water all over the boy as well. The boy giggles and the woman smirks at Khan coyly.

"You're a jerk." She smiles and he grins back.

"I know, Rose, but you love me anyway" He releases them and grabs some cleaning supplies from the closet and she pecks him on the cheek lovingly.

"You're right about that." She smiles and her eyes light up happily.

Amichai yawns and watches the three from the doorway of the room Ze'eva is in. The toddler smiles at Amichai and waddles over to the wolf to pull on his ears roughly. Khan and Rose watch the scene tensely and both ready themselves to jump in should the large animal snap at the young boy. Khan's grip on the cleaning bucket tightens but Amichai merely blinks at the small child with boredom and walks off, flicking his long tail across the boy's face lightly in irritation. Rose smiles with relief at Khan.

"I like that thing already." She laughs as she scoops the baby up and walks towards the kitchen. "So, who's your little friend?" She calls.

"My daughter." He says as he drops down to his hands and knees and begins to scrub the liquid off of the floor.

"What happened to her? She looks like a mess."

"I don't know." He says.

"Well, she's welcome here. So, what's she like?"

"Kind, gentle, random, quixotic, optimistic..."

"Are you sure you two are related?" She walks back around the corner and looks at him with her eyebrow raised mockingly. He smirks slightly. "So, who's her mother?"

Khan smiles now at her obvious jealously. "She's dead," He says evenly. "Ze'eva-my daughter-was created in a laboratory and is the product of gene splicing and genetic experimentation; I promise, Rose. I haven't been with anyone else." He swears.

**…**

A tender calloused hand touches my cheek and I try to slink away from its touch but another hand cups the back of my head and I shiver as the cold fingers dart across my forehead. A cool rag is applied to my head and it's utter torture. A squeak escapes me as the ice cold cloth darts across my face. Then something warm and furry brushes my hand and I relax a little—Amichai. He won't let anything hurt me. Wherever I am: I'm safe. If whoever this person meant me harm, Amichai would've ripped their throat out.

"Is she okay?" A woman asks.

"She has a fever and she's lost a lot of weight, but I think that she will be fine," A low baritone purrs back._ I know this voice..._

"Is she sick? Are we going to make her all better?" A child asks and the baritone voice laughs at the questions.

"Yes," The baritone replies and I feel Amichai jump onto the bed and wiggle into my side. "We will."

Sleep takes me.

**…**

I wake up. It's bright. Light pours in from an open window and I narrow my eyes as I take in my surroundings. Shakily, I force myself to sit up. Where am I? Amichai sits in a silent vigil by my side. He croons and nuzzles me with his head before licking my nose. I stick my tongue out at him and he wags his long gray tail happily.

_'You're feeling better!'_ he seems to shout._ 'Yes! Finally'!_

"You're awake!" A little boy screams and he rockets into me. I tense and grab the kid and hold him at an arm's length as I examine him. _What the heck? Who is this kid? And why is he attacking me?_

"That's Noah." The baritone voice sounds and I swivel my head around: Khan. "My son." He explains.

I blink in surprise. Khan had never really struck me as a family guy…strange. That explains why he was so crazy to get his people back—his kid was one of those popsicles.

"You have been unconscious for three days." He sits on the edge of my bed and the boy—Noah—wriggles away from my grasp to sit in Khan's lap. "How do you feel?" Khan asks as he tilts his head towards me.

"I'm alive…I guess…" I say with a shrug and Amichai opens his jaws wide in a silent laugh at my response. "So, where am I?"

"Somewhere far away from Star Fleet." He says softly. I move to stand he pushes me back down. "You need your rest." He rises and holds Noah gently in his arms while he looks down at me sympathetically. "You're safe now." He says.

I'm not sure I if I believe him but right now, no one's lunging for my throat. I take that as a good sign.

"Alright," I nod at him and Amichai yawns widely by my ear and blows dog breath in my direction. I wrinkle my nose at him and Khan chuckles softly at my facial expression and I stick my tongue out at him. Noah squeals at me and reaches his arms towards me. I raise an eyebrow at the child. For someone who shares Khan's DNA, that kid sure is happy, and he doesn't seem homicidal in the slightest.

I wonder what made Khan that way...

Amichai woofs quietly in my ear and yawns again.

"I'll check in on you later. Get some sleep." He says before he slips quietly out of the room and eases the door closed.

I'm too tired to bother defying him.

**…**

He puts Noah down for a nap and slips outside quietly into the cool air. Within the hour he's back at the ship wreck and sifting through the rubble. He finds a backpack and goes through the contents carefully: it's Ze'eva's. He puts everything back and frowns. Why would they kidnap her and Amichai and bring her stuff along with them? What was the point if it was a simple kidnapping?

But he knew that it wasn't.

She had multiple needle marks and scars on her arms that spoke of experimentation. They probably allowed her to get away from their Star Ship only to drag her once more into their clutches. Give her an ounce of hope only to rip it away at the first chance they got in order to successfully break her spirit, but Ze'eva was nothing if not resilient. She would bounce back from this in time, he knew.

But that didn't make it right.

He swings the bag lightly over his shoulder and begins to tread back towards home. They'll give her some broth tonight and see if she can keep it down. Amichai had been refusing to leave Ze'eva's side and, consequently, hasn't eaten anything during the past three days of his stay at the Singh household.

Amichai would slip outside to relieve himself and trot back into the room, but he won't leave her side for any other length of time. Noah will slip in and badger the wolf by pulling on his long furry coat, his ears, his tail but Amichai won't even growl at the boy. He'll glare at the tyke evenly until he gets the boy's attention and then he'll swipe his long tongue over Noah's tiny face until it's dripping with saliva. Screaming, the boy will run out of the room and both of his parents get a good laugh out of it.

Ze'eva has no clothes in her bag and Rose's clothes are too small for the woman. Khan will probably have to lend her some of his until he can find a way to get her home…but his clothes will swallow her. He sighs.

This week just keeps getting better and better. But even Khan has to admit that, despite the complications, it's nice to see her again. He'd missed that peculiar woman.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

I sit up and yawn. Amichai stretches like a cat and blinks up at me lazily.

_Okay, well I rested—now what? _I think.

My eyes flicker over the room. It's simple and well made. The walls are made out of genuine wood—as are the floors. There's a small dresser, a medium rug made of white wool, and a small bookshelf with some books on it. A large window overlooking a mountain range. A rectangular mirror. A small desk: some paper, some pencils, a few pens…

I like it. The simplicity is comforting.

"How are you feeling?" The door creaks in and a strange woman looks at me. I frown at her and feel my eyebrows turn downward when I see her.

_Who is this?_

"Good…I guess…" I say hesitantly. Amichai watches her quietly and his tail thumps on the ground happily as she approaches the bed and puts her hand to my forehead.

"Well, it seems as though your fever finally broke, huh? Come on." She tugs on my arm and helps me stand. "Let's get some more food into you."

_More? I ate before? I don't remember this…_

We walk into the kitchen. Khan and the baby—_Noah_—are already seated at the table. Khan is feeding the baby some sort of mushy substance (oatmeal…?) and nods at me when I walk in. The woman's hand never leaves my elbow and that's probably the only reason I don't fall flat on my face.

"You were pretty out of it yesterday." The woman remarks.

She helps me into a chair and hands me a plastic bowl of scrambled eggs and half of an already peeled orange. Amichai limps over to sit beside me. I eat half of the eggs and sneak him the other half when no one is watching. Khan raises an eyebrow at me and I shrug before quickly breaking eye contact.

"There's plenty of food." The woman laughs at me when she sees Amichai licking his lips and she gives Amichai his own bowl of eggs. "See?" She pats the top of his head while he wolfs his portion down greedily. "Do you want anymore?" She asks me and I shake my head.

"Nah." I say. "Thanks though." I drink some water from a cup she places in front of me.

"So, I see you've found my book." She slams Rose's diary on the table and my water about shoots out of my nose. I choke and sputter before quickly swallowing.

"You're book?" I cough.

"Yes." She sits down at Khan hides a smile.

"_You're_ Rose?" I ask incredulously. _This can't be possible. The Rose from the diary went to my planet during the Eugenic Wars. She should be dead. By now, she'd be well over three hundred years old._

"I froze my brother and me cryogenically. All Augments have superior intelligence—it wasn't that difficult to figure out how to build a cryotube." She shrugs. "I froze us deep in the ruins of that temple and left my journal for my people to find, assuming that one day, they'd come back and find me too." She smiles and Khan and takes his hand in hers affectionately.

I swallow the urge to gag.

_Eww…old people love!_

"But you left the Augments." I point out.

"A lot of us left. There were hundreds of us. Many went and hid within the normal populace to maximize our chances to live." She shrugs. "I did as well…and I regret that decision."

**…**

They get into a fight a few hours later.

I stumble to my feet and creep down the hallway. Angry shouted words are exchanged and glass cups fly across the room. One shatters over my head and I leap just out of reach of the falling shards. Rose snarls at Khan and he yells right on back.

Amichai whimpers and points his nose at a door. I can hear the baby crying on the other side of it. I wobble into his room and look at him.

"Do you want to go outside and play?" I ask him. He nods and sniffles pitifully. His pale blue eyes look at me sadly and I tussle his hair and smile at him: he reminds me of my little Aaron. "Alright, then get your jacket and shoes."

I help him get dressed and grab a tennis ball off of his floor. We slink down the hallway and into the mudroom. I then 'liberate' a pair Khan's black combat boots (which are WAY to big for me) and his long gray coat before stepping outside into the blinding snow. Shivering, I take the baby's hand and lead him away from the house and out of range (for the most part) of the screaming. He shivers but smiles quietly.

"What we play?" He asks me.

"Fetch." I answer and he frowns uncomprehendingly.

"'Fetch…'" He tests the word and smiles. "How?"

I wave the tennis ball I had found in Noah's room under Amichai's nose teasingly. He yips and pances around us. Noah giggles as Amichai darts close and tries to snatch the ball away from my shaking fingers but I snap my hand out of the way just in time: his jaws snap shut in the empty air and he whines eagerly. I shiver and drawl the coat closer around me.

"Go get it!" I throw the ball and it arcs high into the dry, crisp air.

Amichai bounds after it like a bullet and throws up small puffs of powdery snow as he flies over the arctic wonderland. He leaps into the air and catches the green ball before it hits the ground and races back over to us. Noah cheers loudly at the feat.

"I throw?" He asks with wide innocent eyes.

I give him the ball and he 'tosses' it: it drops at his feet. Amichai winks at me, picks the ball up, and snuffles the boy's hand. He squeals and takes it toy from Amichai before throwing it again—this time a few feet away. Amichai twists quickly and snatches it up. He hands to the ball to Noah and waits eagerly for the next…'throw'.

The wolf's front end drops to the ground and his hunches stick up in the air. His ears point eagerly at the boy and he watches the child with bright golden eyes, his mouth opened in an easy amused smile. His long tail flicks from side to side in anticipation. Noah tosses it at him and Amichai jumps up to catch it in his mouth. He hops again and runs in a tight circle around the baby. Noah laughs and giggles and Amichai rubs against him affectionately.

"Good boy," I praise and Noah tries to echo me.

"Goo' boy! Goo' boy!" He shouts and claps his little hands.

I watch them for a minute before turning my attention to the crunching snow behind me: Khan. He doesn't look angry at me for stealing his stuff. In fact, he doesn't even seem to notice. He smiles at Noah and turns his gaze to me—the smile doesn't vanish. I let him stand beside me and together, we watch the two play.

Amichai yips and prances about like a puppy but he's careful not to get too ruff with the toddler.

"You took him outside." Khan says softly and he looks at me.

I shrug. "Kids may not be very smart but we tend to remember acts of violence—especially those within our own households. I didn't like listening to it and he sounded upset—he was crying, you know." I say accusingly; Khan looks away from me and stares at the ground... I can see the shame burning in his icy blue eyes. I continue to speak: "So, I figured we could both do with some air. So, was it worth it? Your fight?"

He glares at me: "That's none of your business." He snaps at me.

"It's not." I agree and I look back at Noah and Amichai.

Noah is now throwing snowballs. Amichai tries to fetch them but they crumble in his mouth when he catches them. He whines at the failed attempts and Noah laughs at him before finally tossing the tennis ball at Amichai's feet.

The gray wolf snatches it up and trots a few feet away from the boy, taunting him with the ball like the toddler had taunted him with the frowns at him and shouts that Amichai is cheating. The wolf wags his tail and laughs at the toddler: he doesn't care about the rules. He wants revenge.

"The fight over now. Everything's resolved." Khan says matter-a-factly.

I nod and shiver into his coat. He raises an eyebrow at me as if he is finally just catching on that I 'borrowed' his stuff. He's not getting this coat back: I like it a lot. It's warm.

"Is that my coat?" He asks.

"Not anymore."

He glances down at my feet.

"And my boots?"

"I don't speak your language."

He smirks crookedly and shakes his head: "I'll need those back later."

"I thought Augments were superior: what do you need a coat and shoes for?" I say and he rolls his eyes.

"I think I might get him one." Khan murmurs quietly and I frown at him.

"One what?" I ask and he nods at Amichai.

"You do realize of course, that Amichai is one in a million, right? If you go get your son a wolf, it'll probably kill him." I say and he sighs.

"I meant a _dog_." He explains.

"You may want to run it by the lady first and make sure it's okay." I point out and he raises an eyebrow at me: the thought never crossed his mind.

"Rose?"

"It's unlikely that she's the same Rose from the dairy but she does seem to go by that name, yes? I think she's pulling a prank on me." I state. "So, all's good then?"

"Yes." We watch Noah and Amichai frolic some more and I turn the coat collar up against the wind.

"You're not getting this jacket back."

"I will pry it from your cold dead fingers," Khan jokes and I kick him lightly in the shin: he lets me.

"Try it: I dare you." I challenge and we both smile.

Khan snickers at my audacity and elbow him playfully in the ribs: the coat cushions the blow. He feigns pain and mock staggers away, chuckling the entire time under his breath. I call Amichai over and Khan moves to scoop Noah up.

"Time to go in. It's getting a little too cold out," He says into the boy's hair.

"But I want play fetch!" The toddler whines and I smirk. A pang of homesickness cuts through me. I remember those days.

"We can play tomorrow, if your parents don't care." I reassure Noah and he beams and looks at Khan: Khan consents.

**…**

That night I'm awoken by Noah screaming and Amichai snarling ferociously. I leap out of bed and stumble down the hallway. There's a crash and I know without looking back the panicked footsteps behind me are Khan's. Noah screams again and Amichai gives a blood curdling snarl. I rush into the room and find Amichai with a huge writhing snake in his jaws and another one as slithering towards the terrified toddler.

I don't think—I act.

I launch myself across the room and grab the boy and quickly throw him behind me: putting myself between the serpent and the baby. The snake strikes. It lunges forward with its mouth opened wide, its fangs gleaming. Khan is in the room within seconds. A phaser set to kill is poised in his capable hands. He blasts the snake into the wall. It hisses it pain and I push the baby towards the door. He cries and runs to Khan and wraps his arms around his father's leg. Amichai snarls one last time and jerks his head hard to the side, snapping his snake's neck.

His golden eyes scan the room and he creeps forward to sniff at both snakes in turn. Satisfied, he limps over to me and begins to lick his leg which had been injured during the brief tussle. Khan sighs with relief. Rose rushes over to us and drags a still terrified Noah into her arms while Khan gathers up the dead remains and moves to bury them outside. I follow him after ordering Amichai to keep an eye on the toddler should any more snakes be lurking in the house.

"What in the world? Where did those things come from?" I ask him. I stumble on the stairs and he turns quickly to catch me before I fall off.

"I don't know." He answers. "I've never seen this particular breed before."

"They're all over the place where I'm from." I shrug. "I'm surprised you haven't seen them. They're called 'the Devil's Serpents'." I say, "But they reside only on my planet—nowhere else. How is this possible?" Khan digs a hole and quickly tosses the snakes in.

"They were probably brought here by your ship." He replies calmly. "Hopefully, those are the only the ones. If not, I'm sure your wolf will help out again. Thank you, by the way." He says and I squirm uncomfortably under his praise. His hand claps onto my shoulder, "If not for you and your wolf, my son would be dead."

We walk back inside.

Amichai spends the rest of the night in Noah's room.

The next day, Khan brings a female blue German Shepherd home with him. She and Amichai sniff each other curiously and they wag their tails in greeting. Amichai watches her stiffly as she sniffs Noah. He bristles at her in warning but she makes no move to harm the child. Khan and I stand beside each other as we watch the proceedings take place and Rose watches from the couch. Eventually, Noah elects to call her 'Sky'.

The name sticks.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Will you be alright here with him?" Rose looks at me.

"Yep."

"Are you sure?" She raises an eyebrow at me and I nod impatiently.

"Yes. I have my own children—remember? I'm perfectly capable of watching Noah for a few hours. I'll probably teach him a few card games or whatever." I shrug and she smiles at me.

"Alright." She pats on shoulder and walks out of 'my' room. I raise and walk towards the living room where Sky and Amichai are both watching little Noah intently.

"Sit!" He shouts as he hops up and down excitedly and waves the meatball in his hand around in the air. "Come on! Sit, Sky!" Amichai sits but Noah doesn't give him the treat; the wolf's ears flatten back sadly and he slinks away.

"Here." Khan hands me a communicator. "Just in case." He says and they walk out of the door, leaving the two of us alone.

I fish a hot dog out of the fridge and slip to Amichai. He growls happily and wags his tail. For the next thirty minutes I help Noah teach Sky how to sit on command. She learns it ten.

**…**

"So, want to learn how to play Poker?" I ask Noah and he cocks his head to the side.

"What's that?"

"The best card game ever invented." I reply with a smile. We use apple slices, orange wedges, and grapes as poker chips. By the time Khan and Rose return, Noah is finally beginning to win.

"Are you teaching my son poker?" Khan asks and I nod as I raise the stakes by a grape. Noah smirks and ducks his head so Khan can't see his facial expression—wise move. Niether of them seem too happy with me right now.

"Yep." I say calmly and we show each other our cards: Noah won. I frown at him and he giggles happily at me and raises his hands in victory.

"You're teaching a _three year old_ how to gamble?" She says incredulously and her eyes go wide.

"Yes…want to play with us?" I ask and she picks Noah up.

"Come on, honey. Bed time." She glares at me before carrying Noah up to his room and Khan hides a smirk.

"So…" I say slowly. "Gambling is morally wrong?" I ask and he nods.

"Yes." He says.

"Hm. Maybe someone should just write a book or a list on morality and I can study it. It'd make moments like this less…awkward…" I say and Khan smirks and sits across from me. He gathers up all the cards and reshuffles the deck.

"And where would be the fun of that?" He asks as he deals the cards out.

I win the game.

**…**

Everyone is asleep. The sun is just beginning to rise outside. Amichai and I slip out the door and walk out into the snow. My bag is resting lightly on my shoulders and I have Khan's coat and boots on again. Amichai trots through the snow and barks contently. He had been acting squirrely all night. He arcs his back into a long stretch and yawns widely before trotting away from the house.

"Where are you going?" I ask him quietly.

He glances back at me over his shoulder but continues to jog away from me. I shake my head and follow after him. Surely, they couldn't object to us going for a walk, right? Our 'walk' goes on for hours with Amichai trotting farther and farther away. His ears are flicked up in anticipation and his nose anxiously sniffs the air.

"We should go back." I say. They'll be wondering where we are soon. "Come on, Amichai. Let's go." He doesn't listen to me. A loud ringing fills my ears and my eyes flit to the sky. A large burning ship is racing straight for us.

"Run, Amichai!" I scream as I break into a wild sprint. "RUN!"

We raise away and the ringing turns into a deafening shriek. I can feel the heat coming off of the aircraft as it rapidly drops lower and lower to the surface. I don't know where to run—the ground is flat here! There are no caves to hide it! Amichai runs ahead of me. He howls as the ship collides angrily into the snow about twenty meters away and crashes into a large canyon wall. Flames leap greedily all along the outside hull. I pant and survey the damage.

No one is coming out.

Oh no.

I race over to it and scamper inside. Smoke obscures my vision and burns my lungs but I don't care. I move quickly to the pilot's chair and pause as surprise blossoms within my chest: Captain Kirk. What in the world? What was he doing here? I slip his seat belt off and drag him out into the snow.

"Pull him away from the ship!" I order Amichai as I rush back inside for the next one: Spock. I pull him out and race back inside to check to see in anyone else is inside. I find the last person within minutes: Cassie. Amichai runs back to drag Spock away and I drag Cassie away from the wreck and look at the ship carefully. If it was on fire then it was likely that it could explode. It was a good thing we were far away from the aircraft.

I pant and drop to my knees in the snow as I survey the three.

They're all unconscious but breathing. That's a good sign.

**…**

"I'd have rather you left Mr. Spock in the ship." Khan walks up and I glance at him. His face gives away no emotion.

"Is that a joke?" I ask him and he shakes his head.

"No."

"You're a jerk." I remark and I rise to my feet and shiver as the wind picks up.

"Am I now?"

I sigh and check on Cassie. She's breathing raggedly in and out. There may be some smoke damage to her lungs but no other complications seem to be manifesting.

"So are you going to help me get them back to your place or am I on my own here?" I ask and he scowls at me.

"Of course I'll help you." He says and he walks away from me.

"Where are you going? They're over here!" I shout after him.

"Just keep them warm." He yells back and he breaks into a run.

Gee, thanks for the advice.

**…**

He returns with a snowmobile that's dragging a fairly large sled behind it. I sigh: this was his great plan? They'll freeze before ever reaching his home…unless that is his true intention. I frown at him and he smirks.

"Relax." He throws a bag at me and I catch it. "I brought blankets. Help me get them on the sled."

We work quickly and before I know it we're racing back towards his place. Amichai rides on the sled with the others and I sit behind Khan on the snowmobile. We ride in silence and I look back frequently to make sure that no one has fallen off. So far, no one has.

"More guests?" Rose asks when we arrive and I blink at her in surprise. _How could she have possibly known?_

"It would appear so." Khan grabs Kirk under the arms and Rose moves to get Cassie. I sigh. I guess I get Spock…jeez. Why does he have to be so heavy?

"Let me get him." Khan says as he walks back out.

"You'll hurt him." I grunt as I grab him under the arms and back up slowly, but I can barely move him. Khan chuckles at me.

"You're stubborn," He remarks as he grabs Spock from me. "I won't hurt him unless he gives me reason too. Come, let's go in. It's only going to get colder, Ze'eva."

"Don't need to tell me twice." I rush past him and hold the door open and he grunts in acknowledgement.

"Who are they?" Noah asks.

"Friends of mine," I tell him and I hear Cassie cough in the other guest room (there are two guests room: mine and a spare).

"Where am I?" She calls and I find my way to her. "Ze'eva!" She shouts. She struggles to her feet and drags me into a suffocating embrace. I flinch at the sudden display of affection and try to wriggle out of her suffocating hold and she laughs into my ear. "You're alive!" She shouts and I can feel tears trickling down her cheeks and she begins to laugh. What happened? Is she broken? "You're alive!" She says again and she holds me at an arm's length away to look me over and she frowns a little. "You've lost a lot of weight."

I wriggle away from her, "It's nice to see you." I smile and Noah stands shyly in the doorway. "Come on in," I beckon to him. "Meet my friend. Cassie," I say when Noah approaches. "This is Noah. Noah, this is Cassie."

"Hi." He says shyly and Cassie smiles warmly at the tyke.

"Hello," She extends her hand to shake and he accepts it hesitantly. "It's nice to meet Mr. Noah."

"Are you okay?" I ask Cassie after Noah leaves to go inspect the others. "How do you feel?"

"Tired." She leans back against the walls and I check her lungs with a stethoscope.

"Well, your lungs sound good." I sit down on the ground and Cassie sits too. I can't stop smiling—this is so awesome! She's actually here! My best friend is here! It's so great to see her; we have so much to catch up on.

"Your family is doing well." She answers my question before I even have a chance to ask it. "Everyone is okay and so are most of the SAR people. Alieth went to New Vulcan and Spock had some people get her settled. She misses you; I can tell." Cassie smiles at me. "And your kids are doing great. They miss their mom but they're hanging in there."

"Thanks." I lean my head back against the wall and ease my eyes shut and Cassie laughs at me. "How've you been?" I ask.

"Okay, I guess." She yawns. "We've been trying to find you. Marcus is still in power but we're fighting back politically. Many people are saying that he should he put in jail because of his involvement with Sector 31 and the whole Khan thing and that movement is starting to get a lot of momentum. Sector 31 is taking a lot of bad press right now: I wouldn't be surprised if it was closed down completely. What about you? Anything new?"

I shrug and keep my eyes closed. "Sector 31 had recaptured me after I tried to escape. They went to transport me to a different facility and crash landed here. Khan took me in. Asides from that," I look at her. "Nothing has changed."

"This is not our ship." I hear Spock remark and I crane my neck around to see him standing in the doorway. "It would appear that Cassandra was correct in her theory that you were not deceased." He looks at me and I laugh.

"It's nice to see you too, Spock. How's the Captain?" I ask.

"He is currently arguing with Mr. Singh." Spock says and Noah walks up.

"Mom says dinner ready." Noah says and he glances up at Spock and frowns. "You look funny: your ears are pointy. Are you an elf?"

"I am a Vulcan." Spock says and Cassie covers her mouth to hide a laugh and Spock glares at her. She coughs to hide her amusement and Spock turns his attention back to the toddler.

"Is 'Vulcan' code for 'elf'?" Noah asks.

"No." Spock says stiffly.

"I think you're lying. I think you are an elf. You have elf ears."

"Vulcans do not lie."

"Hey!" I clap my hands and Spock looks a little relieved. "Let's get some food. Come on, Noah. Lead the way." The little boy smiles and runs towards the kitchen and Spock sighs.

"Thank you." He says and I grin at him.

"Anytime."


	11. Chapter 11

****Sorry about the wait, I had a case of writer's block and also had some family stuff going on and unfortunately, I still do. Updates may slow however I will try to update at least once or twice a week minimum. So, do try to patient with me, but, to be honest, I do update more often than most, so, I guess I'm okay…I don't know. Will try to continue updating as often as possible.****

**Chapter 11**

Cassie and I are to share 'my' room and the Captain and Spock will share the other.

"Man, poor Spock." Cassie chuckles.

"Five bucks says Khan is going to keep the elf thing going." I bet.

"No! He wouldn't do that! You're on." Cassie says and I smirk at her. I can already tell that she's lost this bet. Khan may not try to rip the Vulcan apart limb from limb in front of or near his child, but he will certainly not make Spock's life any easier.

_Poor Cassie. Trusting, naive Cassie._

"Does Santa know that I've been good?" Noah tugs on Spock's leg and I can see Kirk hide a smile.

"I. Am. Not. An. Elf."

"Of course you aren't Mr. Spock." Khan says sarcastically as he breezes past the irritated Vulcan. He tosses a ball at Noah. "Take your dog outside to play for a while." He instructs the toddler and Noah beams before rushing to get his shoes on. Khan smiles at Spock coldly. "And be nice to the elf." He adds. "Even if it isn't human." Khan walks away and Spock inhales sharply through his nose and curls his hands into fists.

"I am not an elf!" He whispers irritably.

"Right…" I say and he turns to glare at me. "I'm just…going to go outside for a while."

**…**

I'm outside shivering in the snow. The wind slices through me. By now, Noah has run indoors with sky. I can hear him laughing as he practices "sit" with her some more in the comfort of his home. Khan is outside searching for something in the shed and I go to investigate.

"So, I have a question." I look at Khan and he motions me to continue. "Do you know the Earth phrase 'that was a good cup of Joe'?" I ask he nods at me before turning back to his quest. "Well, was the person who invented that phrase a cannibal?" I say and he shoots me a funny look.

"I don't know." Khan shrugs dispassionately. "I've never cared to ask." He rummages through a box.

"And why is it 'a square meal' when plates are traditionally round? And why would anyone be 'hungry enough to eat a horse'? I thought horses on your planet were used for transportation and held a sort of sentimental value not nourishment."

"Are you trying to make a joke?" Khan raises an eyebrow at me and I shake my head.

"No, I'm being completely serious." I blink.

"Right…so, how was your day?" He walks past me and I follow him; he clearly wants this conversation to end and for me to go jump of a cliff and leave him alone. I don't.

"It was okay, I guess. What about you? How was _your _day?"

"Why are you following me?" He raises an eyebrow at me and stops searching so that he can glare down at me in an effort to make me slink away with fear and leave him in peace.

"I'm bored." I groan.

"Go away." He narrows his eyes at me irritably and he reminds me of an annoyed cat.

"Why?"

Khan sighs, "I'm busy. Why don't you go torment the Vulcan—that's entertaining and should suffice to cure you boredom."

"What are you doing?"

"Getting my tools—the snowmobile seems to have broken."

"I can fix it. I'm an awesome mechanic." I say and he looks at me carefully before tossing me the tool bag.

"Knock yourself out." He says.

"Thanks!"

"I was being serious." He tosses me the bag and goes inside.

Inside I'm cheering for having the temporary escape. Within minutes I find the reason for the snowmobile's problem and quickly set to work on correcting it. By the time I finish, Cassie is dragging me inside to eat dinner. I can't stop shivering. Kirk laughs at me and winks as he throws a blanket at me and Cassie helps to wrap it around my shoulder. Khan smirks and hands me a mug of hot chocolate and Noah giggles shrilly.

"You look like a icicle, Ze'eva!" Noah giggles and I shake my head at the small tyke.

"Is the snowmobile fixed?" Khan asks and I nod, my teeth chattering loudly.

"Yep-p-p-p." I manage to spit out and Kirk laughs again.

"So, is it cold out there?" The blond jokes and I glare at him irritably.

"I w-will hunt y-y-you d-down, Captain." I threaten but he just winks at me.

"I accept your challenge." He says and Khan rolls his eyes in exasperation.

"Can I help you 'hunt him down'?" Noah asks me and I nod at him.

"S-sure. W-we'll get the d-dogs to e-eat h-him." I sit down and put my back against the wall as I attempt to rub some feeling back into my fingers. Amichai curls up next to me and swipes his tongue across my nose which only makes Kirk chuckle again.

"I think it likes you." The blond Captain says. By this point, I'm seriously reconsidering my position on homicide; maybe Khan had it right after all. Maybe mass homicide of Star Fleet officers is the way to go…hm. Who knew?

**…**

I breath in the chilly night air and curl under the blankets more. Cassie is sleeping on a pallet on the floor and Amichi is sleeping at the foot of my bed. Every now and then his tail swishes imperceptibly from side to side and tickles my toes. I inhale deeply and drift back towards the tranquil waters of slumber, little did I know, the surf was about to get a little choppy.

_The flash of lightening, the deafening roar of thunder. Rain assaults the roof and the wind claws fiercely at the door. A scream pierces the night like a hot blade through warm butter and I flinch at the sound. Rapidly, I lunge forward and swing my door closed as an enraged howl rushes up the stairs. Something hard slams into my door, and Hali and I drag my bookshelf in front of it to make a makeshift barricade of sorts. Roni and Eliezer are crying. _

_Thud._

_The door bucks inwards but doesn't break. I allow a rogue shaky breath escape the prison of my respiratory track as I haul my bed frame over as well to add more weight. _

Thud!

_Something sharp can be heard scratching down the length of my door and I flinch: it's a knife. Even so, she can't get in—the door is made of heavy wood and it's extremely thick and durable. Nothing short of an ax__or buzz saw would all her to steal entrance into my room._

Thud! THUD!

_The kids cry harder and I drag Roni into my arms. She cires into my shoulder and I sing softly, my mouth forming the words without ever conferring with my mind. My stomach leaps and curls violently and I can feel the acidic bile itching to race up my esophagus and splatter onto the floor: I swallow it down and shudder._

Thud!

_"__What's wrong with her? Why is she so angry?" Roni whimpers._

_"__It doesn't matter. We'll be fine, okay?" I say. Our mother got frustrated a lot and when she got frustrated, she turned to the safety and comfort that she thought alcoholic beverages could give her. Even though it only made things worse, she still seemed unable to learn the lesson that was so simple to grasp._

Thud!

_I flinch as the door screams again in protest against its treatment but it holds. Thank God it holds! A frustrated scream rips through the air and slices neatly into my chest. I squeeze my eyes shut and bring my knees up to my chest. I wrap Roni into my arms tightly and bury my nose into her hair like I'm child hiding beneath my security blanket._

If I can't see the door splinter, then that mean's it never happened!_ I think irrationally._

THUD! THUD! THUD!

_Not the first time, I wonder if she's also on drugs. It must be hard knowing that every single one of your children live only so that they will one day be slaughtered but come on! We're not dead yet! We already have to worry about the scientists trying to rip us to shred, surely we shouldn't have to worry about our mother as well! Liquid panic sizzles through my veins as her mindless tirade continues._

POW!

_The door catches fire and my heart leaps into my throat as the realization rushes over me like a bucket of ice cold water: she has a phaser. Dear God, she's going to kill us all!_

_"__Ze'eva!" Eli screams and I push him towards the window as the wall begins to catch fire. Roni begins to howl with horror and Hali's eyes go wide._

_"__She's crazy!" Hali screams. "Why is she doing this?"_

_I don't know! Why does everyone think I know everything?_

_"__Get out! Now! Hurry!" I push Eli again and this time he stumbles and falls. Smoke invade the air and I cough. My eyes burn and water and I blink furiously. "GET OUT!" I scream again and I can feel the icy fingers of panic gripping my heart and it beats wildly in response. The fire is getting larger; within minutes the whole room will be burning. If we don't get out now, we'll be going with it._

_"__ZE'EVA!" Hali shrieks. I manage to get Roni and Eli outside the window and I whip around just in time to see the door splinter and crumble before my eyes. I yank Hali roughly towards the window and push her through just as a pair of strong hands capture my throat and slam me hard into a wall. I can feel a blade beginning to break skin by my stomache and I cry out loudly._

_"__Mom! Mom, it's me!" The knife clatters to the ground and her wild, unfocused eyes analyze me coldly like a snake staring down a mouse. I swallow and can feel tears slip down my cheeks. "Mom! It's me! It's your daughter!"_

_"__You're not my daughter. You're a monster," she growls before she shoves me away from her and pulls out a phaser. She aims the phaser at my chest and then she shoots._

**…**

I jerk awake. Within minutes I'm outside the room. I slip on Khan's jacket and shoes and rush outside into the clean snow. I'm shivering but not from the arctic cold. Tears ice down my cheeks and my whole body seems to be shaking violently. I march quickly back and forth and back and forth, a silent scream trapped in my throat. My hands shake as I run them through my hands and I can feel liquid adrenaline pounding through my body. My legs itch to run and I can feel the urge to sprint away from this place carving itself painfully into my muscles but I swallow and shake my head at the desire. The last thing I need to do right now is to go running off in the middle of the night.

Even if I really want to.

**…**

"Judging from your body language and emotional distress, I deduce that you have had a nightmare. Have you ever considered the possibility that you have PTSD? You seem to get these nightmares frequently; I noticed it before when we were staying in your home. How are you feeling?" Spock asks.

"Fine!" I snap quickly but I don't slow my pacing. _I just need to keep moving. If I keep moving, everything will be okay. It never happened—it was just a nightmare. That's all. Everything is okay…I'm okay..._

"You need to calm down." Spock says and I drag in a large gasp of air.

_I can't breathe. It's cold and I'm tired and I can't breathe! She tried to kill me but I'm okay—I'm okay but I can't breathe! What's wrong with me? Why can't I breathe! I need to breath: why can't he see that? Why can't he see that I need to breathe? Stupid Vulcan! I NEED AIR! I CAN'T GET ANY AIR!_

"You must calm yourself." Spock says tranquilly and his hand alights upon my shoulder, forcing me to stop moving.

My body reacts instantly My hand clenches itself automatically into a fist and rushes forward. All I want to do right now is hurt something. I want to break something so that it feels just as bad as I do! My arm springs forward and I suddenly freeze—my fist inches from Spock's nose. He blinks lazily at me and analyzes my hand emotionlessly before flicking his calm gaze to me. I snap my arm away from him and draw in a shuddering breathe.

"Sorry," I step away from his hand and back away a few paces. I try to swallow the painful lump in my throat but it won't go down. A few hot tears rush down my cheeks and I swipe them away angrily as embarrassment burns across my face.

"I take it that you do not want to 'talk about it', correct?"

I nod. "Correct." I say tensely and he nods.

"It is understandable that going through trauma would take a toll on any individual from any species. The fact that you have frequent…reminders…of your ordeals is not particully a sign of weakness. You need not feel shame for something that you are unable to control."

"Of course." My voice is shaky and lacks conviction and Spock hones in on it.

"Vulcans, in many ways, feel emotions even more strongly than humans do." Spock says, "And Augments also seem to feel heightened emotions as well. The key is that you must not let your emotions control you, and I may not know you as well as I should, but…I do know that you are an incredibly strong minded individual and you will conquer this in time. Perhaps not soon…but eventually."

He moves forward and this time he puts his hand to my face. I move to jerk back but he smiles slightly and presses his hand again to my face.

"I am going to do a temporary mind meld to help you to relax." He murmurs and at once I can feel all traces of terror melt away. "There," He says as he retracts his hand and takes a step back. "Is that better?"

"Yes." I nod. "Thanks."

He nods to me and goes to sit on a bench. I follow and sit across from him.

**…**

Khan watches the seen from the kitchen window. As much as he hates that irritating Vulcan, even he can admit that Spock did have his uses. He certainly was able to help Ze'eva more than Khan would have been able to. Sympathy wasn't exactly Khan's forte and neither was talking about emotions—especially those of terror and sorrow. Khan inhales deeply and sighs.

_For a creature who was supposedly void of emotion, Spock sure did know a lot about them._

And, Khan can feel some of his hatred of the rule-following Vulcan beginning to dissipate ever so slightly as he watches Spock speak with Ze'eva and the fear beginning to leave her completely. Spock sits with his fingers together as if in prayer and Khan can hear him talking tonelessly about his home world, Vulcan, before it had been destroyed by the Romulans, and Ze'eva leans forward to listen, glad for the distraction from her troubled memories. Khan can feel a corner of his lips quirk upwards slightly as he watches the two. It was certainly difficult to hate the Vulcan seeing him like this with Ze'eva.

But he still looked like an elf.

**Sorry, again, for the inconvenience.**

**I've been feeling a little frustrated so, I figured I'd channel some of it into my writing and, hopefully, make this chapter a bit more interesting and memorable.**


	12. Chapter 12

**VIOLENCE UP AHEAD! Everyone loves violence 8) **

**Chapter 12**

"Have fun! Bye!" I shout as I close the door. It's about time they all left—they've been driving me crazy!

"Well, Noah, it looks me, Cassie, and you have got this place to ourselves—what do you want to do?"

"Climb a mountain!" He shouts happily.

"No! Try again!"

"Make a bomb!" He giggles.

"How about hide-and-seek? Hide-and-seek is fun."

**…**

"Hey. Ze'eva," Cassie says. "Where's the baby?"

"Got me. He went and hid about an hour ago—don't worry. I'm sure he'll turn up again eventually."

"You do realize that you do have to at least try to find him, right?"

"Killjoy." I complain and Cassie shakes her head at me.

"Come on," Cassie sighs and tosses a pillow at my head. "Let's find him."

I stand and move to walk into the kitchen before freezing. I can hear a ship rushing towards us. Its engine is emitting a dull whine. Are they coming back so soon? Huh, that was quick. I move to the window and flinch.

It's Star Fleet.

_Oh, boy. I can't get a break, can I?_

"Noah! Noah, come out!" I shout and I begin to run wildly from room to room. "Noah! Come out right now!" I shout.

Cassie flinches at my tone and quickly speeds up her search. We look frantically. Outside the ship is getting larger and larger—it's heading straight for us. Sunlight glints off its silvery hull and I draw in quick ragged gasps.

_WHERE IS NOAH?! We need to get out of here right now!_

I can't go back to that place—I'll go insane if they capture me again! Every cell of my being is screaming at me to run, but I force myself to continue with my search. I will not leave that little boy here to face their wrath alone. If I'm getting out of here, I'm taking Cassie and Noah with me.

Amichai and Sky join in on the search and sniff furiously. My heart pounds in my throat and I run wildly into the living room while Cassie checks the bedrooms. He couldn't have gotten far. Wherever he is, he's still in the house.

"I'm scared. I want my Daddy!" I hear the small boy whine and I wheel around to see him huddled in a corner and hugging his pale blue blanket to his chest. His pale blue eyes are wide with fear and he trembles ever so slightly. I move forward to hug him to my chest.

"Don't worry." I pick him up and he snuggles closer. "We're going to be okay."

"I got him!" I yell just as the ship screams outside.

I race to the window to see it beginning its descent into the soft white snow outside.

_You've got to be kidding me!_ I think. I want to scream and hit something or run until my legs fall off but neither of these things is a viable option right now! _Jeez! What would Khan do? No, scratch that: Khan would just kill everyone indiscriminately and then talk for hours about how superior he is to them afterwards. But he to have left us some weapons right? In case of an emergency? Okay…so, if I were a schitzo crazy Augment where I would stash weapons?_

"Ze'eva?" Cassie looks at me. "What are we going to do?"

_I DON'T KNOW! THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT!_

"Um…" I say.

_It's too late now to run. There's no cover between here and the canyons; so there goes the snowmobile option. Besides, it's too cold out there anyway for us to survive an extended amount of time out there without making a fire that inevitably give away our position and get us captured nonetheless. There's nowhere for us to hide in the house that'd work. Eventually, they would find us and drag us out to their ship. Chances are, they have a thermal imaging device that's scanning the house as we speak…we were doomed from the start._

"Ze'eva?" Cassie says urgently and I shrug.

"I don't have a plan." I admit. "Right now, I've got nothing. But we'll be fine, okay?" I'm lying. We all know that we're screwed, but right now, no one has the courage to voice it. "Look, Khan is a paranoid lunatic who enjoys killing people, right?" I ask.

"Um…" Noah says and his eyebrow scrunch together in confusion.

I ignore him.

"He has to have some phasers or something somewhere in the house." I continue.

"Ze'eva…there are at least twelve guys out there—all of which are heavily armed—and you expect us to fight our way out of here…?"

"What other choice do we have?"

"We can run." She offers but I shake my head.

"We'd be shot down. There's no cover and it's too cold."

"Snowmobile."

"Nope."

"We can hide."

"They're scanning the house now. There's no way that they wouldn't find us." The porch creaks and my stomach drops. They're at the front door. The knob jiggles as they try to open the door, and I'm suddenly glad that I locked it. _Thank God for paranoia._

"I want my Daddy!" Noah whines and tears slip down his face_. Right now, he's not the only one._

_THUD!_

They start kicking the door and I suddenly get a flash of my siblings and I cowering in my room while my mother fights tooth and nail to gain entrance into my room and slaughter us all. Cassie shakes my shoulder and I snap back. My breathing is quick and harsh and Noah is trembling with fear. Cassie takes him from me and looks at me helplessly, but I don't know what to do. We could call for help on the communicator, but they'd never get here in time.

We're trapped and she knows it.

The door screams as they kick it in and I draw my knife. I'm not going down without a fight. Cassie yelps as they rush in. The knife slips past my fingers and one man ducks just in time. The blade burrows into the wall behind him and I grin nervously.

"So…how's life?" I ask and they rush forward.

Cassie screams and breaks into a run and I can hear Noah wailing pitifully. I make my hand into a fist and punch the unlucky jerk that reaches me first. His nose breaks painfully and I quickly send him to the ground with a knee to the you-don't-even-want-to-know. He curls into a ball and screams and I move to the next one. Something sharp slams into my back and I drop to the ground: stupid stun gun. _When I get up, they're going to regret shooting me when I shove that gun up their…wow, I need counseling. Okay, then…!_

I don't remember blacking out. All I know is that one minute I'm on the floor and the next, I'm waking up with my ears ringing and a migraine pounding painfully into my skull. Amichai is howling and Cassie is sobbing. Slowly, I force myself to a sitting position and, no matter how many times I look around, I don't see Noah anywhere.

"Cassie?" I ask and my voice sounds muffled, distant. "Cassie, where's the baby?"

She continues to cry.

I raise my voice, thinking she didn't hear me. "Where's Noah? Cassie?" She doesn't answer. "Cassie! WHERE IS NOAH?!" I'm getting worried now.

Did they hurt him? No, if were injured Cassie would be tending to his wounds…

Is he dead? Is that why she is crying?

Khan rushes inside and I blink at him in surprise and dread sinks into my chest. His blue eyes flick over us and he scrutinizes us for a moment as he checks for fatal injuries before turning to me.

"Where is my son?" He asks, his baritone voice is laced with worry. I look wordlessly to Cassie and she sobs harder. Khan walks over to her and drops down to a knee so that he's closer to her eye level. "Look at me," He commands firmly but she hides her face in her knees and shakes her head. Her shoulders tremble as he puts his pale hands on them. "Look. At. Me." He says and I can catch the worry seeping into irritation. "Where is my son?" He demands and I stand and take a step towards them.

Khan's icy blue eyes cut to me and narrow as though daring me to try to get him away from my friend. Cassie points to the kitchen table and Khan moves away from her abruptly and snatches a note up. Huh, I didn't see that before. I walk up behind him and read it.

_Hello Khan,_

_We got your boy. Think he'll fare as well as his father through our little tests? Don't worry—we'll take GOOD care of the little tyke. Come find us, if you dare. I just hope you can pull the trigger before I do, because, as always, you have a hell of a lot more to lose._

_Don't worry, I'll take a special interest in this one,_

_Sincerely, _

_Admiral Marcus._

Khan crumbles the paper up and hurls it across the room. The table goes flying into the wall and he roars angrily. I quickly back away as he turns on me, his face twisted into a chaotic combination of rage and sorrow. I swallow and he stalks past me, his shoulder slamming into mine. Rose rushes inside, takes one look at Khan's face, and breaks into tears. Khan pulls her close and I study the floor as shame washes over me.

It's all my fault.

I had one job—watch the baby—and I failed. He got captured by that madman because I couldn't protect him. It should have been me. I could have handled those stupid test a lot better than little Noah could ever hope too: I'm used to them. Those tests…they'll rip him apart…

It should have been me.

A hand drops onto my shoulder and I look up to see Spock looking at me sadly.

"We will get him back." He says loudly and Khan glares at the Vulcan.

"For all I know," Khan snarls. "You led them here!"

"Arguing isn't going to get him back." I say and Khan's rage now focuses on me. He takes a furious step towards me and clenches his hands into tight angry firsts. A violent blue fire burns in his eyes and scorches me to my very bone marrow. I tense but refuse to back away from him. If I retreat, he will attack me just like a wild animal would.

"Had you protected him, we wouldn't need to get him back!" He growls and I flinch at his tone.

"What's done is done." Kirk voices. "All we're doing right now is wasting time. The longer we sit here and argue, the more time they have to hurt the boy. Instead of whining, let's go get him back."

Khan narrows his eyes at the blond captain and nods slowly at him, "Then let's get going." He growls.

We all—even the dogs—race towards the ship and jump in. Kirk, Spock, Khan, and I will all act as pilots two at a time. One pilot, one copilot. Should someone get injured on the mission, they will have plenty of others to take their place and fly the bird. Cassie and Rose will be our medics, and the dogs will help sniff Noah out once we reach the compound.

I just hope we get there in time. According to Cassie, I've been unconscious for two hours. Who knows what kind of horrors they've subjected that poor boy to by now? Khan and I are piloting the ship right now while Spock and Kirk sit in the back with the Cassie and Rose.

No one speaks.

Khan's hands curl angrily around the wheel and his knuckles are white. He clenches and unclenches his jaw in an effort to control his rage, but it must be hard. His body trembles slightly and I know that if I so much as breathe the wrong way, he'll probably snap my neck and kill everything (except for Rose) on board.

I watch the skies and try to keep my breathing even. My heart pounds worriedly in my chest and I have a sick feeling in my stomach that something is going to go wrong.

Khan glances at me and opens his mouth as if to say something before abruptly closing it and tightening his grip—if that were even possible—on the wheel. I continue to study the sky and make it a point not to look at Khan. I'm scared that if I do look at him, he'll go berserk again and break something else: namely me.

_Noah has to be okay_

_Please, let him be okay. _


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Our ship speeds rapidly towards the compound. Now, Kirk and Spock are piloting the ship. Rose sits next to Khan and slips her hand through his and leans her head against his shoulder. He sits stiffly next to her and tires to glare a hole through the metal wall. Cassie and I stare out the window and wordlessly watch the landscape fly past beneath us.

We have been traveling nonstop for three days and with each day that passes Khan gets more and more frustrated. Spock will glance at the irate Augment every now and then but thankfully, the Vulcan chooses to keep his mouth firmly shut. He nods to me sympathetically and I glance away: I don't need Spock's sympathies.

I need to save Noah.

Any minute spent in that prison is a minute too long and he's already been there for days. Who knows what kind of horrors he's been subjected too? I should have gotten him out of the house. Who cares how dangerous it was? Who cares if it was freezing outside? Khan and the others would have found us eventually. If we had run…

But we didn't run.

We didn't hide.

And little Noah was paying for my mistakes.

"I think I see something." Kirk peers through the windshield and Khan springs to his feet instantly and stalks towards the front of the ship. I squint through our window and sure enough, there are lights flicking down below. We're here.

"I'm going in." Khan announces and I rise to my feet to follow him.

He glares at me threateningly and tenses at my movement but voices no objects when I shadow him outside. Amichai stalks obediently at my heels and together we survey the situation. There seem to be multiple guards but no alarms have sounded. The lights suddenly go off and we're left in the icy darkness. The hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up and I draw in a shuddering breath.

They were expecting us.

We are so dead.

"Try not to get yourself killed." Khan growls as he stalks forward stubbornly and I raise my eyebrows at him.

_Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, chief. Really._

**…**

Inside, it's absolutely empty. The guards outside had nodded to us and made no move to attack or detain us as we walked by. I can tell Khan is uneasy about this situation but he continues to plow forward. His back is ramrod straight and his arms swing back and forth from his shoulders as he marches stiffly onward.

"Stay close," He warns quietly and I walk a little closer to him.

"Have you been here before?" I ask as he leads us through the twisting elaborate hallways of the compound and he nods once.

"Yes."

"Why do you think it's so empty in here?"

"Because it's a trap."

I frown; I had been assumed that it was but hearing my thoughts echoed from his mouth just makes it worse—it makes it seem painfully real and I don't want it be. Choosing to come in here was basically me deciding that I was never coming out. If something goes wrong, we could all die…and Noah would be trapped her forever.

"Stop worrying," Khan orders quietly and a ripple of surprise rips through me at his voice. "It's irritating."

"You're irritating." I shoot back and he smirks briefly.

"You're going to be fine." He reassures and I glance at him.

"How so?"

"You're with me." He says as this fact as if I were missing the obvious. "Whatever would wish to harm you would first have to go through me—which is highly unlikely."

"Okay." I nod.

He growls, "You don't believe me."

"We're walking into a trap. I don't think that it's unlikely that your mere presence here would deter a physical altercation or that you are an unbeatable opponent."

"I could kill you exactly twenty five different ways right now. Do you still think me weak?"

"I'm being logical, _doofus_; I can assure you that I am _not_ call you weak."

"Don't push your luck by insulting me." He warns. "The consequences are not something to be taken lightly."

We walk into a large room full of cells. Again, we are completely alone. This is beginning to get unnerving. I keep imagining huge hordes of attackers to rush out of the shadows and shoot us down where we stand. The shadows would come alive as if possessed and it would lurch forward to swallow us whole.

But none of this occurs.

We thoroughly check each cell one by one. And then we find him. Noah is curled in on his side and shivering violently. He whimpers when we approach and buries his face in his tiny hands. Khan rushes to him instantly and puts his large hand on the boy's shoulder. Noah begins to sob loudly and Khan pulls the boy to his chest and murmurs comfortingly to him.

"It's alright, Noah. It's me," Khan soothes. "Daddy's here. Everything is going to be alright now." Noah wiggles closer to Khan's chest and keeps his eyes firmly closed. He trembles involuntarily and salty tears of sorrow slip down his dirty little cheeks. I swallow and look away. Quietly, I examine the abandoned room.

Something is wrong here.

_That stupid letter challenged Khan to come here and get his son back—this is too easy! There should have been a fight or something. Where is the mayhem? Where are the hordes of blood thirsty soldiers screaming for our slow and agonizing demise? Why are we alone? Why is he allowing us to waltz in here? Where is catch? There has to be a catch!_

Khan passes Noah to me and I stiffen instantly.

"Carry him and stay close to me." Khan says and I don't even bother to argue. If we get into danger, Khan is far better equipped to handle it than I am.

…

We run outside and race towards the ship quickly. I match Khan stirde for stride and quickly pass him Noah. His arms wrap possessively around the toddler and I find myself galloping on ahead to tell Cassie to get ready to receive them and give the boy a thorough physical examination to check for any wounds or toxins.

There's a pop.

Pain flares instantly in my stomach and I find myself crumbling to the ground. My body falls into the snow and ice scrapes against my check. My hand flies to my torso and comes away red: I'm bleeding.

_What happened? How did I get hurt? Why did I fall? Did I trip…? What's wrong with me? Why am I so tired…?_

I try to sit up but the pain instantly intensives and I find myself gasping as it blossoms. Stars dance tauntingly in front of my eyes.

"Spock! What are you doing?" I hear Kirk yell and strong arms pick me up. My eyes close of their own accord and my ears ring loudly. Blood stains the snow red as the person carrying me runs wildly back towards the ship.

"Inside!" Khan yells. "Quickly!"

More pops follow.

I'm lain on a bed and someone's hands—they're so cold!—move quickly over my injury.

"I need gauze!" I hear Cassie snap. "Quickly! Someone strap the boy in: I'll get to him next. Get us out of here, Khan!"

The ship jolts violently into the frozen air and with it my consciousness slip away.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

I blink awake and glance around Cassie, Rose, and Noah are unconscious in their bunks and the men are missing. _Weird…it's not they're manly bonding or whatever. If anything, Khan is probably ripping someone's head off, but he wouldn't do that he? Not after we just saved Noah._

A loud crack sounds outside follow by a sharp cry of pain and I sigh.

_Okay…maybe he would._

I stumble to my feet and freeze in the open doorway.

_What in the world?_

I can't believe what I'm seeing._ This has to be wrong. It has to be. I'm hallucinating, or sick, or _something_…I've lost a lot of blood. Maybe…maybe I am dreaming still because this can't be happening._

**…**

"Khan, stop it!" Kirk yells and Khan throws him backwards.

Kirk's back smashes painfully into the ground and he slides across the ice. He grunts and fights to get back to his feet only to slip on the ice and come crashing right back down. Spock launches himself into Khan but Khan quickly punches the angry Vulcan hard across the face. Spock flies away from the impact but just as quickly recovers and moves forward to attack the irate Augment.

"Come now, Mr. Spock," Khan growls mockingly. "Is that the best you can do?" He says as Spock's attacks miss completely. "Perhaps you should stick to studying," Khan kicks him viciously in the ribs. "Combat does not seem to suit you." He smiles coldly.

The Augment's fist flies into Spock's face and a trickle of blood races down Spock's cheek. His black eyes bore into Khan and he leaps for the man's throat. His long fingers curl around the Augment's windpipe and he proceeds to cut of the other man's oxygen. Khan's foot snaps up and kicks Spock hard in the stomach and the fingers around his throat slip away. Kirk again struggles to regain his footing but he slides even further across the snow.

"Stupid pond!" He shouts angrily and Khan's attention swivels to take in the helpless human trapped on the frozen pond.

"Your fighting skills seemed to have improved drastically when I killed off your beloved _captain _the last time. Perhaps a repeat of that incident would make things more interesting?"

Khan stalks towards the ice and Spock's eyes go wide with fear. The Vulcan gets to his feet and stumbles towards Khan but Khan is faster. His foot hits the ice and he slams it down hard. The pond cracks angrily and the frigid water's cold arms jump up to pull Kirk into the bowels of the ice. He yells and holds onto his ice sheet for dear life as it leaps up and down. Khan again stomps on the ice and it crack completely.

"What's wrong with you?!" Kirk demands as his feet slip beneath the freezing waves and he gasps and tries desperately to pull them out, only managing to slip down further. "A little help here would nice! Hello? Anybody!"

"Captain!" Spock yells and Khan punches him cruelly in the chest.

With a roar, the Augment stomps down hard on the Vulcan's forearm and the bone snaps with a loud, sickening crack. The Vulcan screams as pain rushes violently into his arm and thrashes to get away but Khan has him effectively pinned to the ground. The Augment's hand curls into a fist and begins to pummel Spock hard across the face. The Vulcan's head snaps back and slams into the snow covered ground.

Ze'eva rushes forward to wrap her arms around Khan's offending arm but he throws her backwards. Her spine slams into the ground and the air flees her lungs. Coughing she sits up only to jump out of the air of the incoming assault as Khan's anger is redirected towards her. He leaves the semi-unconscious Vulcan in the snow and glares at her crossly.

"What's wrong with you?" She demands angrily. "Couldn't you wait to throw your little temper tantrum later? You son is injured for crying out loud and we're in the middle of nowhere! I thought you were supposed to be a genius! What do you call this? Hm? In what way is this helping anything?"

"It seems I'm about to deal with your insubordination for the last time," His blue eyes shine wildly and he lurches forward.

A phaser blast instantly buries itself into his chest and he falls to the ground. Cassie rushes up and throws a hyper spray to Ze'eva; Ze'eva nods to her in understanding. The moment Khan regains his footing and moves to attack Cassie, Ze'eva slips in close like a wolf and stabs the needle into his neck. The sedative instantly floods his system and he hits the ground with a hard thud.

"Jeez? What got into him?" Cassie asks and Ze'eva shrugs.

"Get him into the ship and run some tests on his blood—something isn't right. He must have inhaled something while we were saving Noah."

"But why aren't you affected?"

"I don't know—maybe it only affects old people."

"And where are you going?" Cassie asks nervously as she looks down at the unconscious Augment. Inwardly, she doesn't want to touch him: who knows how long that sedative will last? When he regained consciousness, she'd rather he not anywhere near her lest he remembered what happened and seek to exact his vengeance.

"To get Spock." Ze'eva states simply.

"HELP!" Kirk yells and they both turn to look at him.

"Then, I'll start the ship up and we'll do a quick fly by for the captain. Hurry, hyperthermia will be setting in soon." Ze'eva says.

**…**

Twenty minutes later, Kirk is shivering in the medbay, Spock's arm has been set and Khan has been very efficiently restrained and the sedative is still working to keep him under. Cassie frowns as she examines the bloodwork.

"Well?" I ask and Cassie nods to me.

"Look like you were right. Whatever it was it must have been airborne and it definitely seems to have added to his irritation. I'll set him up on an IV to start flushing it out of his system. The restraints should hold him should he wake up but I think I'll keep him under just in case that way no one else can get hurt."

"Good thinking." I praise and I let out a shuddering breath. Had Cassie not been there, Spock, Kirk, and I would all be dead. "Thanks, by the way. For helping."

"Hey, one day, I'm going to lose it and kill someone, and then, I'll need to hide from the cops. Trust me, when that day comes, you'll have the perfect opportunity to pay me back." She says sarcastically and I grin.

"You've been hanging out with Bones, haven't you?"

"That guy is awesome." She smiles. We're not dead and we both laugh as the relief settles in its warmth settles comfortably in our bones.

"So, how's Spock doing?"

"Doing fine. I'll keep him under for a few hours as well before reviving him. I've already put a cast on his arm—we'll sign it later."

Kirk smirks and continues to shiver violently as he stumbles clumsily over to us, "I like this idea."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

It's three days until Cassie finally allows Khan to wake up. Spock and Kirk eye the Augment warily as he sits up slowly and tests his limbs. He shoots a questioning look at Rose and she merely shakes her head at him.

"Noah?" He croaks out and the small boy instantly jumps into his side and buries his face in Khan's stomach. His tiny arms wrap around Khan's waist and he snuggles closer when Khan tries to move.

"What happened?" Khan asks and Spock begins to tell him in a low, detached voice about how he attacked the two men and nearly killed them—and me.

Khan's eyes widen with surprise but he doesn't apologize for his actions. I hadn't expected him to. His blue eyes flicker over me and come to rest on Rose. She smiles at him sadly and takes his hand in hers as she sits down beside him.

"Where are we?" He asks. Spock and I share a look and Khan narrows his eyes at us. _He doesn't remember? Cassie says the crash was terrifying._

"You really don't know?" Kirk asks and Khan glares at him. "Well, we encountered a magnetic anomaly that resulted in us crashing. As to where, I have no idea."

"Has anyone come for us?" Khan asks and now he looks at me. He wants to know if Star Fleet is aware of our current location—I shake my head.

"Nope." I say and he relaxes a little. Khan moves to put his feet on the ground so he can stand and Cassie picks up a hypospray and gives him a pointed look.

"You're still recovering from the chemicals that were introduced into your body—you need rest," Cassie says firmly and Rose agrees with her instantly.

"Someone needs to fix the ship." Khan argues. "Lest you want them to catch up and kill us all?" He growls and Cassie claps her hand onto my shoulder.

"Well, it's certainly a good thing that we have the best engineer in the world right here, huh?" She asks triumphantly and I glance at her uncertainly._ I'd rather he not project his rage at me again, thanks._

"She's injured." He argues. "Remember, _Cassie?_ She had gotten shot."

"And her wounds had healed themselves within two hours after receiving them—she's fine. _You_ however are not."

"You doubt me?" He growls and Cassie shrugs.

"I'm a medic and right now, you're a patient." Noah pushes himself further into Khan's side and his attention instantly goes to the trembling child. He sighs when he senses the boy's distress. "Fine," he rolls his eyes irritably at her and turns to Noah. "How are you feeling?" He asks gently and the boy simply shakes his head.

"He hasn't said a word," Rose informs him. "Not one."

Everyone leaves the medbay then (even Cassie) except me, Rose, Khan, and Noah. I continue to watch as Khan frowns at the boy and his eyes widen slightly with worry. His hands gently grab the tyke under his arms and he pulls him to his chest and hugs him close. His chin rests on the small boy's head and he then hides his face in the boy's short, soft, black hair.

"I've got you." He whispers and I swallow. My insides feel as if they are on fire from the thick cloud of awkward that hangs thick in the air. I feel as if I should leave but I can't force my feet to move. This feels wrong. Khan—proud, arrogant, and dangerous—looks…broken.

Frail.

Rose glances at me and smiles sadly through a veil of tears. My mouth opens uselessly as I fight to find something of use to utter out loud—maybe apologize, or offer condolences, or…I don't know. Something. Instead, I pop my mouth shut and quickly move outside. Now is as good a time as any to fix the ship, right? The Singh family can do…whatever it is they are doing in peace and I can get away from everyone.

There.

Everyone's happy…

Except. Noah.

The poor kid is eating himself alive as he waits for those monsters to catch up and drag him away again. His blue eyes are wide and haunted, his mouth firmly closed as if his words would magically bring about his downfall. His small body is tense with worry and tighter than a drawstring.

I've seen this look before. A lot of the experiments mirrored it when they were allowed a temporary reprieve from the horrors inflicted upon them by Star Fleet's Sector 31. They'd be traumatized for life and were always looking over their shoulder to find the unseen enemy that they would imagine lurked just out of sight…it's a terrifying existence—I should know.

That poor baby.

He shouldn't have to go through this. How dare they? How dare they hurt him? Noah never did anything wrong! Sure…Khan arguable was a savage lunatic, but that didn't them the right to hurt that little boy. He was just a kid, and I know better than most that a child can't pick their parents. It isn't his fault he has the misfortune of being related to a crazed mass murderer.

I pull my tools out of my bag and examine the exterior hull. It looks fairly banged up and the power source seems to be about to fall out of place…but this shouldn't be too hard at all to fix_. _If Spock gets on board to help me out—and I'm sure I can convince him to—it'll only go that much faster.

_I can get most of the damage fixed before morning if I work hard enough. I need to push those pipes back right there, fix the flat tire, do some work on the wing, and a little electric work…but that's not too bad. I've seen far worse done to the Wolfsong when I started teaching Truk how to fly it. This isn't bad at all—all in all, it looks like an fairly easy fix._

_Too bad Noah's wounds aren't as easily healed as these…_

**…**

"Do you require assistance?" I hear Spock ask me and I turn to look at him.

"I do." I pass him a wrench and motion to the power supply. "You're strong right?"

He nods at me, "Affirmative."

"So, how are the…" I think for a moment and consider revising my statement. "How's Khan and his family doing?"

"The boy is still insistent on silence and Cassie has sedated Khan to ensure that he sleeps but none seem to be in physical distress if that is what you are asking."

"Okay." I nod. "Lift that pipe a little higher so I'll secure it the power source. Thanks."

"I believe the correct phrase would be 'you're welcome'. Is that all that you need assistance with?"

"Umm…" I study the ship as I think. "If you could change the wheel out with a spare then I think I can get the rest. If not, I can go inside and get you."

"Sounds reasonable."

From there on out, we work in silence.

How long will Noah continue to remain quiet? A few days? A week? Forever? What in the world did they do to him? He doesn't seem to be sick, so they didn't inject him with any illnesses. He isn't severely injured. He has a few small bruises but nothing major—nothing broken.

Spock moves to go inside and I move to work putting a few loose wires back into their place and I frown. Khan is going to kill Cassie when he wakes up. He really doesn't like to be sedated.

"Put the boy with his mother." I tell Spock and I hear him pause.

"May I inquire as to why?"

"Khan won't be pleased when he awakens to find that he was drugged. If Noah is near him, Khan may wind up harming him by accident." And then Khan would go supernova and kill everything that moves. Except Rose. And the baby.

"I will do it now." He leaves.


	16. Chapter 16

**Things have been kind of depressing lately. Here's a happier chapter. **

**Some humor ahead.**

**Chapter 16**

Kirk grabs my arm and drags me inside. I'm shivering violently from the cold. My everything feels frozen right now. Cassie drapes a blanket over my shoulders and I sit close to the heater as I try to force some feeling back into my limbs…and then fall asleep.

**…**

_We're running, Truk and I, through a flower meadow. Birds chirp cheerily and a warm breeze caresses our skin. We smile widely and laugh. Truk slows to walk and lays a blanket down on the ground and puts a picnic basket in the middle. We both sit down. I lean into his side and feel the warmth pressing in through the fabric as I stare up at the puffy white clouds…_

_"__I got something for you." Truk says as he passes out the food: sandwiches, cool bottles of water, some orange wedges, and a two candy bars._

_"__What is it?" I ask and I look at him curiously._ Why would he get something for me?

_"__It's a surprise." He says with a sly smile as he raises the water bottle to his lips smugly and I consider tackling him to the ground. We eat in relative silence. When he finish, Truk looks at me with a strange gleam in my eyes and I can feel my pulse quicken slightly and the blood rush to my cheeks. I felt happy right now, but then again, I always felt elated when I was near him…_

_Truk shifts so that he's sitting on his knee and he looks at me expectantly as he pulls a small box out of his pocket. My heart freezes mid-beat._

_"__Ze'eva." He says, carefully to enunciate each and every letter of my name, "Will you marry me?"_

_"__Yes!" I smile widely and I wrap him quickly into a hug and bury my face in his chest. His arms wrap around me to hold me tighter as well as the squeeze the air from my lungs. I don't care—I'm just so happy! I feel as if I'm being drenched by a joyous downpour. Truk's chest rumbles and I register that he's laughing with relief._

**…**

I jerk awake as something warm falls across my shoulder. Blinking in the dimness I can make out Khan walking calmly back to his own bunk: he had covered me with a blanket. I pull the soft fabric closer and close my eyes before he can see me watching him. I hear his bed shift as he slips into it. Cracking my eyes open I see him pull Noah into his arms so that the boy is resting lightly against his broad chest. He holds the tyke protectively and hides him in a castle made up of his strong arms.

I go back to sleep.

**…**

"Here. Just try some—just a little sip." Kirk pleads as I try to slip past him to get outside to resume making repairs on the ship. "He holds the bottle out to my pleasingly and smiles in an effort to persuade me.

I still don't want to.

Come on," He whines. "Just a sip."

I sigh and take the bottle from him and give it a tentative sniff. Ugh! It wreaks! No, there is NO WAY I'm drinking this! This guy is off his rocker!

"No thanks." I give it back.

"Try it—it smells better than it looks." He passes it back.

"That's like saying a third degree burn feels isn't as bad as it appears." I press into back his hands.

To my right, I can hear Cassie and Rose laughing at us. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Spock walk in, take on look at us, and move back into the cockpit. Noah presses the palms of his hands against his mouth to hide a smile. Khan, who looked like he was going to intervene only moments ago, takes one look at Noah and instantly sits back down beside his one. This is first time Noah has truly smiled since being taken.

"You know you want some." I give the bottle a disdainful look and hear Noah stifle a giggle. Khan smiles at him. Kirk holds the bottle out to me

"Not happening." I push the bottle towards him and he winks a me.

I move to go around him and he blocks me off. Again, I try to slip past but when I move, he moves. Irritated, I jump quickly to the side and try to rush to his right. I slip past and make for the door at a run but he grabs my sleeve and spins me back into the medbay. I stumble slightly before quickly catching my balance: Cassie and Rose are in an uproar.

"Try it." I finally take the stupid thing and glare at him. Cautiously, I again sniff at it and narrow my eyes suspiciously. _It's poisoned, isn't it?_ "Go on." He urges. With a sigh, I pour a small amount of the vile liquid into a shot glass and quickly swallow.

_IT'S AWFUL! SON OF GUN! I THINK I'M GOING TO HURL AND THEN I'M GOING TO KILL THAT STUPID—! UGH! WHY WOULD I EVEN AGREE TO THIS? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? WHY DO PEOPLE CHOOSE TO BUY THIS STUFF?!_

My face contorts into a look of utter disgust and I fight the urge to vomit on Kirk's shoes. Quickly, I gulp the alcohol down and shudder as it burns down my throat. I gag and glare at Kirk—everyone is laughing. Noah has tears running down his eyes and his holding his stomach, doubled over slightly as his laughter spews forth. Even Khan seems to be chuckling. Spock stands in the doorway of the cockpit and gives me an amused smirk before quickly making his features neutral again. I look down at the rest of the contents of my 'drink'; I had only drank half. I wait for them to stop laughing before speaking.

"It actually tasted worse than it smelled." I say calmly as I grimace. "But it does have one redeeming factor."

"And what's that?" Kirk asks.

Poor, guy. He never saw it coming. I almost feel bad for him.

Almost.

One minute, the glass is sitting still in my hand, the next minute, I'm throwing the contents of my cup into his face—his eyes. He yelps loudly and crumbles to the ground, his fingers clawing at his eyes. I step over his writhing form easily and exit.

That'll teach him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Khan had followed me outside and his eyes laugh at me silently. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye but say nothing to him as I begin to examine the wings of the ship. When I move, he follows me stubbornly as he wordlessly demands for me to acknowledge his imposing presence—I don't.

If anything, his actions make me more dead set on ignoring him than before I came out here. Why can't he just see that I want to be alone? Is it really so bad if I want some personal space while I vomit up my insides?

"You made Noah laugh." He says finally and I can just barely catch the sharp under current of irritation running through his voice when he speaks, allowing me to win our little contest.

"It was a joint effort." I dismiss his words easily. His eyes narrow slightly as he analyzes my body language and any hidden meaning my words may shelter. I gag at the bitter taste in my mouth and wince. Ugh. I'm going to kill Kirk later.

"I can kill him, if you want." Khan offers as if answering my unspoken thoughts and I look up at him quickly and frown.

"I think I handled it pretty well, thanks."

He smirks, "Perhaps, next time then. How are the repairs going?"

"Just about done." I say and he nods.

"I'll help you." He says stiffly and he picks up a wrench from the toolbox I had left outside and begins to work on the wing next to me. Little by little we begin to bring the steal appendage back to working order. After a few hours, shivering, we rock back on our heels to examine out handy work.

It wasn't pretty but it just might be functional.

Well, maybe.

"Think it'll fly?" I ask him and he nods once.

"I believe so." He says and his eyes narrow a little as he moves forward to run his long fingers carefully over the cold metal as he reexamines it for any flaws that would hinder flight: we don't find any.

"It should hold," His deep baritone voice rumbles. "As long as we aren't attacked, we wing should hold." And not fall apart, sending us to our graves.

This trip was looking better and better, but what choice did we have? The Admiral Marcus was determined to end our lives. To stay in one place for an extended amount of time was to embrace death like you would an old friend—and the Admiral would make life's departure a slow one.

"We will leave in twenty minutes." Khan says and his blue eyes cut into me as he waits for me to speak.

"Sounds legit," I say finally before walking around him. His fingers curl around my upper arm and I flinch as he forces me to turn and face him.

"If you don't let go of my arm—I will break your nose." I say threateningly and he smirks with amusement at my challenge before making a big show of taking his hand back.

"As if you could," He says smugly.

I don't even think: I slam my foot into his shin. His eyes go wide in surprise and then he's tackling me to the ground. My fist slams into his nose and blood sprinkles onto my face as he pins me to the ground. An artic wind slices through us and makes me shiver more from the cold. He pins my arms to the ground and I glare at him angrily.

"Calm down," He growls and I glare at him as I struggle to escape his iron grasp: it ain't happening any time soon. "Ze'eva." His deep voices washes over me. "You're alright."

For a moment, I pause in my efforts to punch him in the throat and he drags me to my feet and clasps me to his chest. My rage burns away to sorrow in an instant. The tears come quick and hot. They melt down my face and my body is suddenly wracked with sobs as the events of the past few weeks crash over me like a tidal wave and drag me down into the icy depths of despair.

The Admiral was back and crueler than ever. My family and anyone I had ever come in contact with could very well lose their lives just because they know me. Star Fleet was being run by a homicidal madman who would stop at nothing to slaughter anyone who stood in his way: me, my family, my kids, Khan, Spock, Kirk…

No one would be spared his wrath.

Age and gender would play no part in saving a single innocent life from the Admiral's suffocating grasp. If he caught us, he would make sure that we never escaped again and would make our hell eternal. More experiments. More pain—agony. And then death—still and silent. To breath our last within the cold and uncaring compound while an apathetic world watches on and then rejoices in our final defeat.

_Why is no one else freaking out or worried? Am I the only one who is able to play this out to its logical conclusion—our demise?_

Khan pulls me close and I wriggle to try to get away from him. He doesn't let me. If anything, his grip of steal tightens around me, pushing me closer into his chest. I can feel warmth seeping through his close and the potent smell of musk makes me want to gag.

He's too close! I want to put a wall of space between us and then run into my feet run off. Running always helped me to escape the horrors of reality before. I was faster than my enemies and able escape the harsh fate they had intended for me. I could run and run and nothing would ever catch me.

But now, there was nowhere to run.

And nowhere to hide.

We couldn't go to New Vulcan or to Earth: Khan would be recognized instantly which would put us all in danger. The Klingon Empire was too dangerous to seek refuge in and my home planet was definitely not an option. The place would be crawling with those who would wish to do us harm. So, where do we go? They'd only catch us eventually anyway, right?

What was the point?

I give up and allow myself to sink into him as the fight drains out of me. My head rests against his chest and I can hear his heart thumping loudly in his ear. I inhale deeply and ever so slowly the tears begin to stop. Khan doesn't let go. His chin sits lightly on the top of my head and his hands rub soothing circles on my back.

"Everything is going to be okay," he reassures me softly, but I say nothing.

I'm not sure if I believe him.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Now we're in the air. Kirk is piloting the ship and Noah is sleeping fitfully in Khan's arms. Khan's icy blue eyes glance at me occasionally but, for the most part, he focuses solely on little Noah. The boy whimpers quietly in his sleep and muzzles Khan's chest. His pale eye lids are clenched tightly shut.

"He's having a nightmare." Cassie states the obvious and I look at her. _Really, Cassie?_ "It's normal after just recently enduring a trauma."

Khan and I are both glaring at her by now.

_Seriously? She assumed that we wouldn't know that? Humans…_

"I'll just…go back to the medbay." Cassie leaves and I roll my eyes.

_Rookies._ _They never learn._

"Does she always state the obvious?" Khan inquires with a raised eyebrow. I pretend to consider his question.

"Unfortunately." I say as I hide a yawn.

"Tired?" He smirks and I shake my head.

"No." Another yawn. Khan stifles a chuckle.

"How old are you again?" He smiles. "Five? Six?"

"I'll hunt you down, old timer." I threaten as yet another yawn forces its way past my lips. Darn it!

"Try it," He challenges me with a silky purr. "I dare you."

"You two stop," Rose wraps a blanket around my shoulders and sits next to Khan. Smiling, she gives him a peck on the cheek and gently ruffles Noah's dark black hair. Khan and I have a stare off but I find it harder and harder to keep my eyes open. Eventually, Khan shifts Noah over to Rose and walks towards me slowly. Carefully, he pushes me down on my cot so that I'm lying on my side and repositions the blanket so that it's lying on top of me.

"Goodnight, Ze'eva." He says softly and my eyes close for the last time.

**…**

_Roni and I are sitting at the kitchen table playing a card game: Poker, truth be told. The front door slams and Hali runs in crying. Her lip is split and blood trickles down her chin. I look at the wound carefully before pressing a paper towel to her lip._

_"__What happened?" The words don't even have to leave my mouth. Glass shatters outside. The door slams open as my mother falls through it. She lands on the ground—hard. _

_"__Upstairs. Now!" I shout. Something was wrong but I wasn't going to have them around to figure out what. I push the girls towards the staircase and flinch as Sector 31 scientist race inside. I cower into the wall. My mom looks at me and her face loses all color._

_"__Run, Ze'eva." She pleads. "RUN!" _

_They turn and look at me but I'm a trapped: a deer stuck in the headlights. They raise their phasers and I snap out of it. Ezra is in the front yard, hiding in a tree. I don't acknowledge him as I go past; I just run. Faster and faster. Further and further._

_My legs burn._

_My eyes water._

_My heart pounds loudly in the throat._

_"__Catch it!" Someone screams. "Don't let it get away!"_

_It._

_He called me an 'it'. What? Am I not human or something? Oh, how little I knew back then! Wouldn't it be great to rewind time to that second? Image if I knew then what I know now…the possibilities are numerous. They caught me by the river and dragged me back to the house by my hair._

_The buzzard is sitting there on the front porch in my mother's rocking chair. His mouth is curled into a cruel smile of victory and I want nothing more than to slap it off. He stands slowly and meanders towards me as if he has all the time in the world…who knows? Maybe he does. But I don't. _

_If a human's life is nothing more than a flicker, then an experiment's was a mere drop of light. It seems the time has come to end mine._

_"__Hello there." He says when they shove me forward._

_"__Admiral." I growl angrily and I ball my hands into fists. He doesn't look scared. If anything, his smile grows._

_"__You are just like your dad." He says and then he punches me in the stomach so hard I see stars. The air rushes out of my lungs and he slams my face into the blue grass beneath my feet. I glare up at him from the ground, mud coating my face. _

Just wait till I get up! I'm going to rip your arm off!

_"__Your dad had a fairly good handle on pain as well. Must be hereditary," He smirks as they drag me to my feet. I lunge against their arms and struggle to get free so I can get my hands around his wrinkles little throat._

Let's see him smile then!

_"__Please! Stop it!" My mom rushes outside but a well-aimed phaser blast sends her to the ground. She's not moving._

_"__MOM!" I struggle harder than before but he simple punches my again in the stomach. My legs buckle beneath me but they keep me on my feet. I don't cry out from the pain; I glare at them._

_"__She'll live." He smiles wryly. "She hasn't quite outlived her usefulness to us yet." His communicator goes off and he looks at with a frown gracing his gnarled face. His curses quietly._

_I needle pinches my neck and my limbs turn to lead. They let me fall to the ground. The Admiral puts his knee on my chest and leans in close to talk to me as if we were sharing secrets of whatever. His knee is cutting of my oxygen supply and saliva is sprinkling my face. _Ugh! This is so gross! Step off, dude!

_"__Don't worry." His eyes harden. "We'll be back and finish up our little business another time." So, I get to live another day. _Why? What's going on? What made him change his mind?

_"__What's going on, sir? I thought we were…"_

_"__He's escaping."_

_"__Khan? That's impossible!"_

_"__Just shut up and start up the ship!" The Admiral snaps._

_They leave my field of vision. My eyes close. Darkness descends just as their ship flies into the air. _

Weird…I don't remember hearing it fly up…

**…**

"You okay?" Cassie is looking at me anxiously. I had started freaking out last night—thrashing in my sleep. Khan had shaken awake. He must have told Cassie. Wonderful. Now she was never going to get off my back.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Ze'eva…"

"Just homesick." I shrug to try to make my lie seem more concrete. She buys it; she always does. "No big deal."

"Oh. Alright…" She drops the subject but we both know that I know that she doesn't believe me.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

We land on a deserted planet that is covered in thick ice. Khan is outside checking the ship over while Kirk and Spock take a look around to get some readings on the ice. Strange. Even after all this, they still want to explore the unknown. Rose is helping Khan; Cassie is getting something to eat from the kitchen and I'm watching Noah sleep in the medbay.

And then he starts convulsing.

Violently.

I rush forward and put my hand on his chest as he arbs upwards, foam starting to come from his mouth. His blue eyes open and I watch his eyes roll backwards into his skull. He gurgles and tries to scream. It's muffled. Faint.

"Khan!" I yell as I struggle to hold the kid down. I've seen this type of thing before. It never ends well. "KHAN!" I yell louder.

Cassie explodes into the room and Khan nearly runs her over as he rushes towards me. His eyes fly to Noah and he turns unnaturally pale. Horror flickers across his features.

"Hold him down!" I order and then I look at Cassie. "He needs a sedative—quickly!" They move to do what they were told.

"What's wrong with him?" Khan demands.

"Hold him still—watch his head. Careful!" I ignore his question—I don't want to answer to it until this kids is knocked out. A needle pricks into his neck and he goes limp. The foaming stops. The convulsing ends.

For now.

"What is wrong with him?" Khan demands again, firmer this time.

"He's…ill. I've seen it before—back on my home planet." But it only ever happened to us experiments, and not many of us at that. It only happened to people who were part Augment and had a fairly significant amount of human DNA. So why was Noah affected? He was completely Augment, right?

"Will he be alright?" Cassie asks.

She had never seen this before. It had happened roughly five or six days after a gas was released on our planet and made the Vulcan's go insane and revert back to their ancient primitive and savage ways. Cassie wouldn't have noticed: all of us experiments went into hiding lest the humans' rage at the Vulcans shift to us.

Was that what was wrong with Noah?

"Ze'eva?" Cassie says a little louder and I shrug at her.

"I don't know. I don't know if he'll be alright," I say softly.

"What is it?"

Now that was the million dollar question. What was the thing that killed roughly a hundred of the children created by Sector 31? Was it a virus or maybe a type of poison or was it their DNA? Did they die because of the gas or was it mere coincidence?

No, scratch that. It couldn't be coincidence. It had to have been a test of some kind—some way to destroy all of us before the world found out and bury their little secret for good. People today would never condone the types of experimentation they'd done on us. The Vulcan's reaction was probably just an added bonus; they'd kill whoever was left: witnesses and experiments alike…

Someone did this to Noah on purpose. Marcus wanted to rip Khan's heart out and force him to watch his loved one perish. Khan would go berserk and attack Star Fleet again…which would leave the inevitable: war. How many would die this time to ensure that the Admiral gets the glory he's craved…? Millions? Billions?

"Is Noah part human or all Augment?" I look at Khan and an eyebrow raise at me in confusion. I can read his thoughts as he frowns at me: _what kind of question was that?_

"Is mother has some human DNA." He shrugs. "Why does it matter? What is wrong with my son?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Give me a minute!"

Maybe it was in his DNA or something was added that specifically isn't compatible with his body. Not a poison. It's been five days sense Noah has been kidnapped. Signs of poisoning would have shown up by now. Chances are, an illness or bacteria probably would have as well.

But the gas…those kids showed symptoms exactly like this five to six days later. He must have been given a concentrated dose by the scientist.

_Oh, the Admiral is smart,_ I sneer inwardly.

Khan would have no idea what would have brought this on and would have been too far away to take immediate action, allowing the Admiral time to get away and slink to somewhere safe where he could command his troops. He wouldn't even have to anything. Just sit back and watch the fireworks…

So, how can it be reversed? Well…what do you do for a virus? You take dead virus cells and inject it into a healthy patient…or the cells of someone who is immune. I never got sick. Cassie's eyes go wide and I realize that I've been talking aloud this entire time. Khan looks at me.

"You're smarter than you look." He states.

"Nice to see you too." I shoot back at him. He just said I look stupid. What am I supposed to do? Thank him? Not happening.

"So, we just give him some of your blood and everything's okay?" Cassie looks at me and I shake my head quickly.

"No! We do that and he's dead for sure." If they weren't confused before then they most certainly are now.

"What? But you just said…!"

"I know. But I'm not normal. My blood is…bad. People tend to die when they receive transfusions from me—I don't know why. It just happens."

"What about my blood?" Khan asks.

"He's you son—he _already has_ your blood." I point out. "I doubt more would help."

"So, what do we do?" Cassie is looking at Noah. He may not be her child but that doesn't mean she wants to watch him die. Doctors are supposed to help people and be the light that shines through the sea of darkness and pulls people through into the land of light…but that's impossible to do when you're also drowning in the blackness.

"I'm not sure. It could be possible to target the specific cells…the white blood cells, perhaps? But…I don't think this ship has the equipment we'd need." No, it isn't even close to having what we'd need.

"How long does he have?" Khan is zeroing in on me.

"Two weeks at most." I answer stiffly and he nods slowly.

"Then we'll go back to the facility."

"Oh, okay, that sounds…wait a minute. The SECTOR 31 FACILITY? What?" I look at him like he's just gone crazy—and he has! "We are outgunned and outmatched. What are you going to do_? Crash the ship _into the building?"

"No." He walks calmly to the cockpit and Cassie shrugs at me before starting an IV on Noah. He doesn't even flinch. How strong was that sedative? She then puts a tub down this nose that'll provide him with air should he need it in the near future. And he will.

Unfortunately.

"Call in the others. We'll leave at once." Khan says.

Within minutes everyone else is inside. Spock stares emotionlessly at the boy and Kirk catches my eye. His blue eyes sparkle with worry. Rose won't leave the medbay but neither Cassie nor I are brave enough to make her. She sits beside her son and runs her fingers through his hair. A sea of tears slipping down her pale white cheeks.

We say nothing.

There is nothing really to say. Khan is taking us to our deaths; what is there to discuss? We'll all die and that'll be it. The end of story. Who knows? Maybe we'll even take the Admiral to his grave—permanently this time…


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

_Ow. Where am I? What happened?_

I cough dust. My chest aches and feels tight like an elephant just stomped on it. My head is screaming, heart pounding hard…but I'm not afraid. _Why is my heart beating so fast? _The world tilts and spins as I force myself to sit up. _How did I get here and where am I?_

I am not on the ship.

In fact, the ship seems to be missing. _Where did it go?_

"Hello…?" I call out. My voice is feeble. Scratchy. My throat dry and burning. "Hello?" I yell louder and wince as the pain in my throat increases sharply. _Ow! What's wrong with me? Was I drugged or something?_

I'm sitting up and looking around. Cassie, Spock, and Kirk and laying near me: all of them unconscious. Where are the Augments?

**…**

I don't remember much. One minute, everything was fine.

_And then Rose had suddenly left Noah to go into the cockpit to converse Khan, but he had seemed to be expecting it. The glass door slid shut while they talked, effectively sealing their words inside with them so that the rest of us couldn't hear what was going on. She began to cry and Khan wrapped his arm around her and held her close. After a while, she quieted and stared out the window, her lips moving as if she were still talking._

_And then Khan nodded._

_Gas flooded the compartment and Khan swiveled around in the pilot's chair to catch my eye as confusion flickered over my face and he had looked…apologetic. And then I started to get tired. I fell to the ground, my limbs heavy and hard to move. My head fell back into the floor and it got harder and harder to blink—to breath. Someone fell on my chest and it grew difficult to draw air into my lungs: Cassie._

_My eyes close just as I hear the cockpit open. Boots stomp across the floor and someone kneels down next to me; I can't open my eyes._

_"__I'm sorry." It's Khan. His hand smooths my hair down and I passed out._

**…**

"My head," I hear Kirk moan and I swivel my head to look at him and then wince as waves of pain and nausea hit.

"You alright, Captain?" I ask.

"Yeah…were we drugged or something?"

"It would certainly seem so." I rub my forehead and take deep breathes to force the nausea away.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine_." I feel a little homicidal right now for being tricked into this mess, but that's okay right? I mean, it's not like someone through me out of an airlock or anything. Oh, wait…_

The others wake soon after. One by one we stagger to our feet and wobble weakly. A simmering scarlet sun scowls at us but I can tell we're on the same planet as the facility that Khan is planning on storming. Who knows how many he'll kill. Heck, he'll probably kill everyone. No one would make it out. Once Noah is stabilized (or dead) he'll go straight for the Admiral's heart…

_But how far away are we? And why did he leave us here? Surely it'd be better strategically to have more people with you when you invade that place? More manpower would make it easier to pull off…so what is he planning?_

I wish I knew.

"Are you scared?" Cassie asks and I frown. Scared? Why would I be scared?

"No." I think for a moment. "Are you?"

"Yeah, he left us out here to die." She stares at her feet and I tilt my head to the side.

_He had said "I'm sorry". Was that why? Because he was abandoning us, deeming us inferior and thus slowing him down? But wouldn't it make more sense for him to keep Cassie around? She's a medic for crying out loud! I must be missing something here…but what?_

"I don't believe that." Kirk says and his eyes lock onto mine. "If Khan wanted us dead, he'd have killed us when he had the chance."

"And what do you propose we do, Captain?" Spock asks.

"We go to the facility and we help." Kirk yawns.

"And if Khan attacks us?" Spock inquires.

"We run." Kirk winks at me and smiles jokingly but Spock doesn't seem to catch the sarcasm. Kirk groans. "We'll be fine, Spock." Kirk rolls his eyes and I find myself smiling at his arrogance. "What's the worst that could possibly happen?" He asks rhetorically.

"I assumed that that answer would be obvious, Captain: death."

"You know what? Forget it." Kirk groans again as I begin to turn my back on the two and walk away.

"Ze'eva? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the facility, Cassie. Where else? Like it or not, we need a ship to get out of here." _And I want to know what happened to the Augments...I want to know why Khan drugged us and threw us out the airlock._

"You're not scared of going back? Not even a little?" Cassie asks.

"Nope."

Everyone, even Spock, although he seems reluctant to do so, follow after me. Kirk's eyes shine with excitement and Cassie keeps shooting nervous glances my way. But I don't even attempt calm her unspoken fears. For all I know, they have an army waiting for us.

**…**

There are bodies everywhere. Blood splatters encrust the walls and drip onto the floors. The lights overhead flicker on and off ominously and I find myself swallowing back bile as the smell hits. The door is twisted and warped beyond repair and there are holes in the walls. Fear slices through me and I fear Cassie gasp. Without looking at her, I know her eyes have flown wide open and she's looking at the scene with complete and utter horror. She may be a doctor, but that doesn't mean that she was in any way prepared to meet the onslaught of carnage before her.

I enter the building.

It's dead silent save for the loose wires sizzling and shooting up sparks. A small fire burns on a nearby desk, destroying what I assume to be delicate and top secret information. But who set the fire? Them or Khan? Is anyone alive here or did he slaughter them all…and if anyone is dead…does that mean Noah didn't…?

_No! Don't think about it! He's fine. He has to be. I just saw him a few hours ago! He has to be alive! He's sitting on that stupid ship right now, and everything is okay. He's laughing and healthy and…stuff. He can't be dead. He can't._

_But why else would there be so much damage?_

_So much death?_

_If he wanted to, Khan could have gotten in and out of here without a hitch. He'd have gotten the cure for his son's illness and cleared out before things had gotten bad. So, something went wrong. This is not the work of someone who was cool and collected—this was an attack of pure, blinding rage. He had no control. No restraint. No one inside would have survived the assault. _

"Are you scared now?" Cassie looks at me.

"Yes."

**So, how this chapter? I figured I'd leave a cliff hanger-I hadn't done it in a while. Hope you enjoyed.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Angst up ahead. Sorry, had to be done.**

**Chapter 21**

Kirk is the one who follows me inside. Cassie and Spock linger outside to 'watch the perimeter' but really, Cassie is only having a panic attack and Spock is making sure that she doesn't wind up hurting herself by accident.

In every room I glance in, equipment and people alike lie broken and irreparable on the floor. I'd like to say that this facility was filled with the dead and dying alike…to give some hope that someone, at least, had lived...

But all we saw were the dead.

_Was this why Khan had left us? To spare us from seeing this? Had they planned this attack? Had they planned it to this extent?_ AND WHERE ARE THEY?

Nothing is moving. In fact, the entire building seemed to be holding its breath. Something bad was waiting for us, I know it was…but I had no idea of what.

And then…

A room, completely destroyed, like the others. The walls were burnt from phaser blasts, the equipment smashed and mangled. A woman's foot lying cold and lifeless on the damp concrete floor; her golden hair strung about her like a dying halo.

_Rose._

Kirk and I rush forward, and Kirk screams loudly for help. My fingers fly to her throat. She's pale. _Unnaturally_ pale. Her chest doesn't rise and fall as she takes in air; it lies still. Unmoving. No pulse gallops beneath my fingers. No heart beats within her chest. Rose was dead. They had killed her and Khan had gone berserk.

This attack was not planned; it was grief.

It was loss.

Agony.

_But where was Khan? Where was Noah? Did they die as well?_

Cassie runs into the room and I move away from the corpse and walk quickly from the room. Kirk yells after me and Spock tells him to leave me be as Cassie tries in vain to revive Khan's wife.

"It would be logical right now to give me space," I hear Spock reason to Kirk."She had just gone through a tragedy. Time to think would be ideal in order for her to remain in a calm and collected mental state lest she also lose control and slaughter hundreds..."

I head straight for the room that contains all the security monitors. Within minutes, I have access to their mainframe and I play back the security videos. One monitors shoes that they entered the building quietly with Rose carrying Noah. Khan enters first. He drawls his phaser and fires at the approaching officers. They hit the ground: stunned but alive. They arrive in the room where I had just left: the one with Rose's…body.

She lays Noah on a cool, metal table. The cheap fluorescent blinks down at them as Khan rummages through the various bottles of medications. Rose starts an IV on the small boy. Khan pushes a bright blue liquid through—_is it the cure?_

Then, chaos ensues.

Solders rush into the room, their weapons raised. They don't look happily. Khan goes to rush them and Rose moves to put herself between the line of fire and her baby. A phaser blast hits her straight in the chest.

And then another.

And another.

She hits the ground; her eyes open wide with shock. She doesn't blink again. Khan roars and kills every last one of them. They scream, and fight, and beg, but he doesn't seem to be in touch with reality. His face contorts with pain and sorrow. When the last body hits the ground, he moves to Rose. His hands fly to her neck, and, like me, he finds that her heart has stopped beating.

He begins to sob. His fingers shake as they move forward to close her eyes. And then he goes berserk. He goes room to room, killing and breaking anything and everything he sees. Monitors, tables, people. Everything. Blood stains the walls, the floors, the furniture. A chair flies into the camera and the feed goes black.

"This is…not a good circumstance." Spock says. He had been watching the feed with me, looking over my shoulder with his black eyes narrowed in…sympathy?

"What was your first clue?"

**…**

We search the compound thoroughly and, eventually, we have to send Cassie outside. Even now, with a thick wall of brick separating us, I can hear her dry heaving.

"Look, chances are, they left." Kirk says.

I go back to the monitors and try to find a different camera to watch through but everything pretty much looks the same: Khan going insane and homicidal after Rose's premature death.

"Look," Spock points to one monitor and I can see the Admiral leering at Khan cruelly.

_Huh, that's new._

A wall of glass separates the two and Khan paces back and forth like a caged lion. The Admiral may fancy himself as a jungle cat, but he was actually a hog: disgusting and vile. A blemish on the face of human society of all that is abominable and perverse. One wrong move and that lion will find a way to destroy its enclosure and kill the swine that mocks him from the other side...but this pig was smarter than he looked.

Darts begin to fly and bury themselves into Khan's skin. He rips them away but more just as quickly replace the others. He sways on his feet as the drugs flood his system. His legs buckle and he falls to his knees. The glass wall rises up slowly and the Admiral strolls in, his smile growing wider at Khan's helplessness.

A stubborn rage burns within Khan's eyes but the Admiral is quick to punish him for it. The old man's leg flies out and hits Khan in the side. He topples over like a rag doll, his head cracking hard onto the floor. Momentarily, his eyes shut but he just as quickly opens them. Weakly, he tries to get to his feet but his arms won't support his weight; he falls back down.

"You really thought that you could get away? I thought Augments were supposed to be smart," The Admiral laughs tauntingly. Khan blinks up at him but his eyes are growing heavier with each passing second. He tries to glare but ultimately just winds up fighting for his consciousness.

The Admiral continues: "If you thought before was bad, then you have another thing coming." Marcus drops to his knees, grabs a fist full of Khan's hair, and jerks Khan's head up so that they are eye level.

"And when we get back, I'll let you decide which member of your pathetic little family will die first. And if you don't pick." Marcus pauses as he releases Khan's head and the Augment's skull crashes back to the floor with a sickening thud. Khan's eyes snap shut from the pain but he's quickly backhanded across the face; his eyes reopen instantly.

"If you don't pick, then it'll be your little boy."

The feed goes black.


	22. Chapter 22

**Graphic-ish experimentation/torture ahead.**

**Chapter 22**

Bolts of electricity shoot through Khan's body. He's sitting in a glass chair, his arms secured tightly over his head, his feet locked to the ground. His head snaps back as another stream of current courses through him and his blue eyes flash with hatred when he catches Marcus in his sight. When he got out of here, he was going to make sure the Admiral paid dearly, and this time, he will not be revived back to life.

"Are you having fun yet?" The sickeningly familiar voice of Marcus taunts him as the walks around the writhing Augment.

Khan's jaw clenches to keep from crying out as the Machine sends another bout of electricity through his veins. The machine suddenly flicks off and Khan's head droops limply to the side. He pants gratefully but his rage refuses to subside.

Khan's eyes are closed. Try as he might, they refuse to open. It feels as though the lids are made of lead; impossible to raise up so that he may see and get an idea of just what awaits him.

A cold hand suddenly grips him painfully by the chin and forces his head up; the nails bite into his skin and Khan hisses indignantly.

"Well?" The voice laughs as Khan tries to jerk his head away but the drugs still linger in his system.

The hand drops him and his head falls forward. Khan hates this; he hates feeling helpless and weak at the mercy of merciless. Marcus could do anything he pleased to Khan right now and he would be powerless to stop it. The painful experimentations were sure to begin anew. Agony would once again be a constant companion as the scientist ripped him apart in order to figure out just how he worked…and now they had his son captive as well.

And his people.

What was the point in the fighting the Admiral? Khan could escape with ease but it would be his loved ones who'd endure the punishment. Marcus would simply kill them all off or revive one to take Khan's place and the cycle would simply repeat. He opens his eyes to see a pack of scientist looking at him greedily with their beady little eyes. A few lick their chops in anticipation and Khan tenses visibly. He was about to be thrown to wolves. Again.

"Let's begin, shall we?" The Admiral leaves the room and scientists descend upon him.

For hours, they take gallons of his blood and break his bones in order to extract the marrow within them. They take muscle and tissue samples while the Admiral watches his torment with hard grey eyes as Khan squelches his screams. He twists and fights against his bonds but his torturers pay him no heed as they continue with their devilish work.

Twice, he drops into unconscious bliss only for Marcus to order his scientist to stop so that he could revive the Augment with a bucket of icy water, and they'd begin again while Khan bucked and writhed, his struggles getting weaker and weaker, and his blood dripping onto the floor.

Finally, they lay down their equipment and the bounds release him. Khan drops to the ground, trembling from fatigue and blood loss. The Admiral grabs the back of Khan's shirt and forces Khan to crawl on all fours down winding hallways before he finally kicks him harshly into a cell.

**…**

"Do you really think he's in there?" Cassie asks and I nod.

"It's the closest Sector 31 base in the area that could properly contain Khan. I think it's possible that he's in there." I pull my computer out and Cassie looks at me doubtfully. It had been at least a week since Khan and Noah had been taken. Who knew what that lunatic was doing to them?

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to hack into their mainframe and get access to their security footage."

"You're looking for Khan?"

"If we're going to break into a dangerous military installation, I think it might be just a little important to know if what we're after is in here or not."

I find him.

Eventually.

He's trapped in a small dirty room. A single bulb illuminates the cramped space. It's roughly a seven-foot-by-five-foot bare concrete room. Moisture and grime collects on the floor and walls and a covered drain rests in the middle of the floor. Khan is curled into a corner of the room, his head buried in his knees. He's shivering and wet.

"Jeez. What happened to him?" Cassie asks and I shrug.

Khan is still wearing his long sleeved black shirt and slacks but no shoes or socks. The exposed skin on his neck and face is purpled. Bruising. There are cuts in the fabric and blood drips slowly onto the floor and he twitches every now and then.

He looked more like a battered Chihuahua right now then a homicidal dictator.

"We've got to get him out of there." I say and Kirk agrees with me instantly. Even Spock murmurs quietly in approval. He and Khan may hate each other but even they have certain lines I'm sure that they refuse to cross: this must be one of them.

"So, any ideas?" Kirk looks around and I continue to flick through the security feeds before finding Noah. He's scared and shivering in a small room but looks to be relatively unharmed. And he's not dying. They had gotten him the cure just in time.

"Why don't we split up?" I ask. "It'd be easier for us to branch off into teams of two and each group would go after a different person."

"Sounds good," Kirk nods.

"Cassie and I will go after Khan. You and Spock will get Noah."

"Wait, what? This is a dangerous mission. You need someone who's trained with combat to go with you." Kirk argues and I roll my eyes.

"I know enough hand-to-hand combat to get by and I'll need a medic to check Khan out to make sure nothing is seriously wrong with him—and that's going to be Cassie. Sorry, guys." I shrug. "It is the logical decision, and they'd probably have more security over by Noah than by Khan. As long as they have the boy, Khan won't be trying to make any escape attempts."

"And what of his people?" Spock inquires.

"We'll get them on the way out." I grin.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

I slip past the guards and Cassie follows closely behind, her face whiter than a sheet. We turn a corner and slip through the hallway soundlessly. I find a small closet and pull Cassie into it just as a few guards enter our hall. They walk past us unknowingly and we shoot out into the hallway again once they're out of sight. According to the blueprints I found, Khan isn't much further ahead, and, like I had assumed, there isn't a whole lot of security in this area.

_Cool. We got the easy job._

"Do you think he'll be alright?" I ask Cassie quietly and she shrugs.

"I don't know. He didn't look so good on the video feed."

"Do you think he'll be able to walk?" _Because there's no way we'll be able to carry him. Maybe I should have elected to take Spock with me after all…_

**…**

The door is heavy but we manage to push it open inch by inch. A figure lies still and motionless on the floor. I pull out my flashlight and creep forward slowly. Cautiously.

_Is he alive?_

Dropping to my knees, I reach my fingers out to touch the side of his neck. Within minutes, I'm slamming to the ground, my arms pinned to my sides as fingers curl around my throat and cut off my oxygen. Sputtering, I try to get free but he has a grip of iron. Distantly, I hear Cassie gasp and she slips her arm around one of Khan's as she attempts to pull him away.

"It's us!" She shouts. "Khan, it's us!"

He doesn't let go. My struggles are growing weaker. My ears are ringing, my vision going black. I manage to get one arm free and I dig my nails into his wrist in an attempt to snap him out of it. He doesn't. Now my head is slamming into the floor over and over again. Cassie slaps him hard across the face and his eyes burn with a deep hatred. He drops me instantly and moves to tackle Cassie. I suck in a quick breath of air before launching myself at him. We crash to the ground and I roll away from his dangerous hands but he catches my ankle and drags me back towards him, his hand curling into a fist. It flies at me and Cassie screams.

"STOP!" She yells and his arm freezes. He blinks and then seems to look at us for the first time.

"See?" I ask him as he lets me up. "I told you that you were senile, but did you listen?"

He glares at me.

"Too soon?" I rub my throat and he sighs.

"Are you alright?" He wobbles slightly on his feet but I pretend not to notice. His lip is busted and dried blood runs from his bottom lip to his chin. Multiple bruises mar his face and throat; his eyes look sad and lifeless and he's standing stifle as though his rib cage is on fire.

"Yep. Never better."_ Thank God he didn't squeeze any harder—he would have broken my neck for sure! _"Let's get out of here, pops." I grab him by the arm and together, Cassie and I help him to the door. His head droops forehead as he fights to walk and stay conscious at the same time.

"Noah," He gasps as his legs crumble beneath him and Cassie and I struggle to keep him from hitting the ground.

Shakily, we lower him to the ground and exchange worried looks. This was going to be harder than we thought and neither of us had originally planned for it to be easy. We may be optimists but that didn't mean we were completely delusional.

"Jeez. Now what?" Cassie asks as his eyes close and he relaxes completely: he's blacked out. Wonderful.

"Uh…" Honestly, I have no idea what to do.

Neither of us was strong enough to drag him for an extended amount of time. We'll probably have to wait here until he wakes up, but who knows how long that could be? We could be waiting for hours! Or days, for crying out loud!

An alarm goes off and the room is bathed in red light.

"Ze'eva?!" Cassie is panicking. This was no good. This was not good!

"Grab an arm!" I order.

We then drag him outside the cell, close the door, and begin to drag him into a closet. Cassie swings the door shut behind us and I crouch down. My heart pounds rapidly and I can't help but remember the last time he was unconscious and woke up suddenly. My hand flies to my throat: please don't attack us again!

"Do you think they know we're here or are they just now sensing Kirk and Spock?" I wonder and Cassie shakes her head.

"Who cares? Either way, it doesn't look good." She says hopelessly and I roll my eyes.

_Really? I haven't noticed, Cassie! I thought it was going fabulously! _

Khan moans quietly and we both look at him in unison before sharing a worried look._ Is he waking up? Is he homicidal again? Is he going to go for my throat? Jeez! Why didn't we bring a phaser? WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!_

"Is he alright?" I ask quietly. "Can you at least look him over while we're in here to make sure nothing major is going on?"

"I can try." _There's the optimism I know and love!_

A few minutes pass.

"He has two cracked ribs and a lot of bruises. Many of his bones have been broken but, for the most part, they seem to have to pretty much healed."

"But what about the cuts on his face? Shouldn't they have healed?" I demand quietly.

"He doesn't seem to have eaten in a while, Ze'eva, and he's endured a lot of beatings. Starvation could be a possible reason explaining his slower healing rate."

_Poor, guy. What was wrong with Marcus? Why couldn't he just leave Khan alone already? Come on, the Augment has a family for crying out loud! A baby! Why can't the old geezer just let it rest and go die already?_

Footsteps pound outside and Cassie and I automatically push ourselves closer together. Our eyes are wide as we watch the door and I very slowly ease my knife out of its sheath.

"Come out, come, wherever you are." A voice mocks and I tense instantly.

The door whooshes open and I launch myself forward, my knife held high. Something hot and electric slices into my chest and throws my sideways into a wall. I collapse flat onto my stomach and my forehead smashes hard into the cold ground. Out of the corner of my eye I watch as Cassie screams when the phaser is turned towards her, and it hits her straight in the chest. She drops heavily onto Khan. He grunts in discomfort when she collapses onto him but he doesn't move.

_Come on! Now would be a good time to wake up, Khan! Up and at 'em, man! We could really use a miracle or something right about now! Please, Khan! HELP!_

"Well," Marcus kicks me onto my back and I look up at him through half lidded eyes. "Look at what we got here." He smiles and a chill runs down my spine.

_Why can't anything just go right for once? Why couldn't he have just let us get away?_

"Sir!" A red shirt runs up and Marcus turns to glare at him.

"What? What is it?"

"Kirk and Spock have escaped with… the child of Khan and other seventy two Augments, sir…" The red shirt stammers and the Admiral grabs the poor boy by the front of the shirt and slams him into a wall.

"What?" He leans close into the boy's face and the boy swallows nervously.

"They've…escaped sir. With the child …Khan…as well as the other…Augments, sir." He swallows again. Marcus shoves him away.

"Throw these three in a cell and get pursue the others. I want them captured alive!"

But they won't live for long.

Not if Marcus gets them in his grasp.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

It's dark.

I have no idea just how much time has passed. Days? Weeks? They keep taking Khan away and when they throw him back into the cell after during…after ever it is they do to him, Cassie and I have to jump up and catch him because he can't walk. We'll then drag him to the far wall of the cell and carefully lower him to the ground. He grunts and moans but is never conscious long. Unfortunately, we can't help him with his wounds; we have no medication. No antiseptic. Cassie pulls a rag out of her pocket that we use to stem the flow of blood but even that is useless after a while.

I hate this feeling.

This feeling of hopelessness.

Helplessness.

They're ripping him apart piece by piece but there's not a single thing we can do to stop it. It isn't fair! But what does the world care of fair? A thousand innocent people could vanish and the world would simply continue on as if nothing had ever happened. We can't escape and no one would even know or care except for the Captain and Spock, but it wouldn't be logical to attempt a second escape mission. We have failed and that's all there is to it.

Marcus has captured the dark king.

It's checkmate.

We lose.

They enter the cell every now and then to take blood samples and then scurry away like roaches to their labs, but not once do they take me out. They throw in stale bread and bottles of water through the food slot and we gulp it down greedily like animals while they keep Khan out for experimentation.

I never see him eat.

So, I begin to save food. I save my bread and force half of the water bottle down his parched throat. When his eyes flutter open weakly, I help him to sit up and then give him the bread. He eats slowly, cautiously and Cassie allows him to finish her water off. He goes back to sleep.

This becomes our routine: they take Khan away and then feed us. Hours pass: we stare at the walls; occasionally, they take pints of my blood. They throw Khan back in. We feed Khan our leftovers. Sleep.

Repeat.

"Do you think we're going to get of here?" Cassie asks this question at least ten times a day and every time I give her a different answer as I try to reign in my irritation and hold onto whatever shreds of sanity I have left. So far, it's not working.

"Sure. Why not?"

I yawn and hug my knees to my chest as I try to keep warm. They enjoy making the temperature in our cell inconstant. It varies from being so cold that my breath comes out in misty clouds to an oppressive heat that strangles your energy right out of your limbs.

_When I get out of here, I'm going to smash that stupid thermostat into a thousand little pieces and then shoot them into empty space VIA PEA SHOOTER!_

She sighs and I roll my eyes.

_What more do you want from me, chick? Come on! Cut me a break already! _

Khan stumbles back in and I rise instinctively to grab him. He nearly hits the ground but his hands shoot out and he catches himself. I have my arms armed around one of his and I help him to stand. He wobbles slightly but doesn't fall again. Together, we reach the other end of the room and sink to the ground panting. I pass him the bread and he bites into it hungrily.

"Are you two alright?" He asks as he looks at us each in turn.

"Yep." I say and he turns to analyze me. I hold his gaze evenly and he looks at Cassie.

"And you?" He asks. She stares at the floor, saying nothing. Khan inhales deeply and exhales loudly. "I grow tired of awaiting your answer," he complains with a wink to me and we all three smile.

"I'm fine." Cassie says with a small smirk. "Never better."

For a while, we sit in comfortable silence. Khan eats what's left of my bread and we surrender our water bottles to him as watch as he drains what remains of their contents. Little by little, he seems to be getting some of his strength back.

"Your people are safe," I tell him finally and he tenses instantly, coughing up water.

"Excuse me?" His eyes are wide with surprise.

I tell him then of what had happened. About our plan and how it failed and how the red shirt ran up. I then told him about their conversation. When I finish, silent tears are running down his cheeks and he blinks at me gratefully. A spark of embarrassment jolts through me and I find myself looking down at the floor.

And then he hugs me: tight and suffocating. I wriggle and thrash against his embrace but he pulls me closer. Furiously, I elbow him in the chest and he laughs as he releases me. Cassie is giggling and never sees it coming: he drags her into a hug next. She squeals in surprise and I watch his chest vibrate as his baritone chuckle fills the room. His people were safe. No matter what happened, everything would be alright because his people and child were out of harm's way.

He settles down and lets Cassie go. She jumps to her feet and brushes herself off. Khan rolls his eyes and leans back into the wall, his eyes closing as he falls asleep. He just looks so peaceful. Calm. Content.

I want to poke him.

I reach my finger towards his cheek slowly. Cassie smiles and rolls her eyes at me as if to say: _"Really, Ze'eva? Really?"_ I ignore her nonverbal reprimand and continue to advance.

"Unless you desire to lose that finger, I suggest you move it away from me." Khan threatens me suddenly in a low and dangerous tone. His eyes never open. _What in the world? How did he even know?! _

Stunned, I don't move. When his wrist snaps upwards towards my hand, I leap away from him and stumble over a sitting Cassie. My tailbone hits the ground hard and I yelp in surprise. Khan's eyes fly open to look at me before closing again when he sees I am unharmed. Cassie tries to hide a laugh but it sounds like she's torturing an owl.

"Perhaps, next time." Khan smirks with his eyes still shut and I throw my shoe at him. It bounces off his head and hits the floor with a thud. He doesn't even flinch. If anything, his mocking smile grows larger.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Cassie asks with mock sympathy.

"After I get my vengeance," I say darkly.

"That is a highly unlikely endeavor." Khan yawns, eyes shut. "It would seem Goliath has finally triumphed over David."

"Are you calling me a man?!" I demand and Cassie laughs.

Khan says nothing.

_Yeah, you better not reply!_


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

I don't know how or why but somehow during the night, Cassie and squished Khan into the far corner of our cell. I'm leaning into his shoulder, my eyes closed. Khan snores quietly and I crack and eye open to see his outstretched legs in front of me and Cassie using his crossed ankles as a pillow.

Yawning, I sit up and look around. I'm not really sure how…_this_ happened. One minute, we had all been laughing as though this were some strange slumber party of whatever. _When did we fall asleep? _

Footsteps echo outside the door as someone strolls past and my fingers fly to knife handle…only to find—_once again_—that it is missing. They better not break my knife; I love that thing.

"Trouble sleeping?" Cassie blinks wearily at me and sits up. Khan shifts in his sleep but doesn't awaken.

"I guess." I yawn and she smiles at me.

"When do you think the cavalry will arrive?" She asks me.

_'__When'? Why don't ask me _if _I think help will come and then we go from there? The others are probably light-years away from us by now. Chances are, we're on our own. And it's my fault. I should have had a better plan. I should have seen this coming! How can I be so stupid?_

"Soon." In the darkness, she can't see me swallow back the guilt of dishonesty. I hate lying but what would be the use of telling her how I really feel? She'd lose the only thing keeping her alive: her hope.

"Go back to sleep or I'll strangle you both." Khan threatens suddenly.

"You'd have to catch us first." I remind him.

"Hardly a difficult task." He yawns.

"For those who can walk." I smirk and he smacks me lightly in the arm.

"Stop talking."

I sigh. Fine, whatever.

"I can feel you glaring." Khan complains and I internally smack my forehead in frustration. _Jeez, who knew Augments could be so demanding?_

And then something explodes outside the cell. Screams pierce the air and smoke creeps under the door. The flicker of fire can be seen in the cracks in the walls and I wince as the floor rumbles violently once more: another explosion. Khan's eyes shoot open and he turns to glare at me as if this were somehow a plan I had conceived to rob him of his sleep.

The door handle squeaks and we all turn to watch as it turns. It inches open and a beam of red-orange light floods the room and a thick pillar of smoke follows after. Khan and I instantly leap to our feet and Cassie cowers behind us as we mentally prepare ourselves for the blood-filled battle that is sure to come.

Sector 31 must have grown tired of us. They're destroying the compound along with whoever they deem unfit to live. A bomb would be the easiest way to destroy this place: all that would be left are ashes and bones. No one would ever know what happened or care enough to investigate. Star Fleet could simply pass it off as a Klingon Attack, and Admiral Marcus could have the war he's always wanted. Sometimes, I really hate that guy.

"Get behind me," Khan growls at me, but I don't even glance at him.

"Why? So you can collapse to the ground unobstructed? You can barely stand; maybe _you_ should get behind _me_." I shoot back quietly.

"And then you'll do what exactly? Smother them with long winded tales of justice? Regale them the horrors of your past? This is a job for a warrior." Khan persuades but I'm not hearing it.

"A warrior who can't walk is a warrior who can't fight." I say and he clenches his teeth in frustration. Sometimes, I knew, he really didn't like me. This was one of those times. "Here: we'll bash their heads in together. Now, shut up. You've giving me a headache."

"_I'm_ giving _you_ a headache? Where was your desire for silence ten minutes ago when I was trying to sleep?"

"Get over it!"

"Our you'll what? Trip me?" He sneers.

"I'm seriously considering it."

The door flies open and a bright white beam of light cuts painfully into my eyes. I bring up my forearm to shield my eyes and Khan stiffens beside me. The light suddenly cuts off.

"Hey! I've found them!" I flinch at the voice but it sounds…familiar somehow.

_Weird._

"_Captain_," Khan growls and I sigh. _Really? You have to do this now?_ "What a pleasure it is to see you again," He says sarcastically before sneering.

"I'm going to hurt you both in about three seconds." I threaten and Khan rolls his eyes. "So, are you here to save us or shoot us? Because I vote for saving."

Kirk laughs. "Yeah, come on. We need to move fast," Cassie and I both look instantly at Khan who's still wobbly on his feet. "Alright, let's go!" Kirk runs down the hallway.

_Oh…you want us to go fast you say, huh? Well, this is just wonderful; we are all going to die._ We rush out of the cell and I pause to wait on Khan. He glares at me as he passes.

"What? You can't get rid of me that easily, old man." I quip. "So, how was your day?"

"Do you ever stop talking?"

"For you? No. No, I don't."

"Please, someone just shoot me now." He staggers faster and we start to catch up with the others. Spock flies around a corner and gives us some cover as we rush onto a huge Star Ship.

"Never thought I'd be here again." Khan comments as he looks around.

"And where is 'here'?"

"The _USS Enterprise_. What other ship would Kirk command?"

"Why would I care? Knowing what ship he commands would imply that I care, and I don't."

"Alright. All of you report to the medbay." Bones walks up and glares at all of us in turn.

Khan rolls his eyes at the doctor but moves to follow his orders. I walk next the Augment, ready to grab should he fall. He narrows his icy blue eyes at me and a cold chill runs down my spine, but I refuse to back away. He's injured and probably not thinking all that clearly. The faster he gets checked out, the better.

"I am not child. I will not be requiring your assistance." Khan growls but I shrug at him.

"If you don't fall, I won't assist you."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Khan is sleeping. Cassie is helping Bones check in on the other patients and I'm sleeping in a chair between Khan's and Noah's beds. I yawn and lean my head back against the wall. Bones had given Khan a very in depth examination. About three of his ribs were cracked, a bone in his leg (his tibia) was also cracked, and he had minor internal bleeding, severe dehydration, and minor starvation. Bones had given him a strong sedative to help him sleep and an IV to administer fluids and vitamins.

But he would live.

Noah was doing okay as well, but he seemed to have developed a minor form of PTSD. He has nightmares and wakes up screaming for his mother. Spock has been considering preforming a mind meld to maybe help ease some of the trauma and make it not so imposing, but he's elected to get Khan's permission first. I highly doubt Khan will object especially since it could help Noah.

The boy whimpers in his sleep and tears spill out of his eyes and wet his pillows. I slip out of my jacket and cover him up in it. Quietly, I run my fingers through his soft black hair and watch as he relaxes slightly, but the tears don't stop. I had the Admiral for what he's done to this kid. Kidnapping and harming Khan is one thing, but to hurt his child? What kind of a person does something like that?

Khan may be a murderer, but it was Marcus who was the monster.

**…**

I'm standing across the room watching as Khan and Bones bicker. Khan is lying down in his hospital bed and Bones is standing over him with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl plastered to his face…which isn't really remarkable, I guess. The guy always seems to be angry about something. Maybe it's the food here…?

"How are feeling today? Any homicidal urges or pain?" Bones asks Khan and the Augment rolls his eyes at the older man.

"I'm fine," He snaps before trying to sit up and Bone pushes him easily back down onto the bed.

"You need your rest." Bones says tiredly and I notice the dark bags under his eyes. Looks like Khan isn't the only one needing to sleep. Maybe I should just drug them both and ask forgiveness later. I'm sure if I run fast enough and pray really, really hard, I might just be able to make it to safety. Wait…Khan is here. Forget it. Suicide is not an option. Not today.

"I'm fine," Khan repeats, firmer this time.

"You can either lie there or I can sedate you again; take your pick." Bones threatens. The two glare at each other for a long moment before Khan finally crosses his arms over his chest stubbornly like a child but he remains laying down. "Alright," Bones pulls out his tricorder. "Hold skill. I'm going to scan your vitals." After a minute, the device beeps and Bones at it. "You're lucky to be alive."

"I am superior to humans. This kind of treatment is nothing to an Augment."

"And yet, you're still in the medbay aren't you, Superman?"

"I don't recall asking for your opinion."

"Don't worry; it's free of charge. Now get some sleep." Bones walks away and Khan glares at his retreating form.

"I've killed men for lesser things," He mutters darkly.

"Ah, don't be so dramatic." I say and I toss an apple at his head. He catches it deftly. "What's a few hours extra sleep to you? The more rest you get, the faster you heal, right? Get some sleep, heal up, and then you get out. Wouldn't it be more strategic for you to be going after Marcus when you're at a hundred percent rather than forty?"

"What makes you think I'll be going after Marcus?" Khan raises an eyebrow at me and I shrug.

"It's obvious, isn't it? He kidnapped your son, killed your wife, and tortured you. I'm surprised you haven't already tried to single handedly take control of the Enterprise by now and have it. Let's face it: you have severe anger issues. And a God complex."

"I'm beginning to dislike you."

"Do you want a hug? Cassie says hugging is a normal part of human social interaction. It builds…trust…or something…"

"Do not hug me."

"What a relief! If Cassie asks, I tried to be normal. It's the attempt that matters. Thanks."

"You are strange." Khan cocks his head at me.

"If you are implying that you are normal, then I will get the psychiatrist to come down here, because you're obviously delusional."

"You're threatening me; does that make you suicidal?" He smirks.

"Nah, it means that I have confidence."

"In?"

"In the fact that I can run faster." I yawn and he chuckles quietly, bringing his arms behind his head so that they act as a pillow of sorts.

I smile back at him and sit on the floor because I don't trust sitting the chair by his bed: it's too close to him. Noah is outside, bantering around Captain Kirk like a puppy and he's asking a thousand questions, but Kirk doesn't seem to mind. If anything, he appears to be enjoying all the extra attention and the awe struck look the little tyke gets when the blond rattles off an answer.

"But for how much longer?" He asks out loud and not too long after saying this, he falls asleep.

I sit there and watch him for a minute before sneaking out the door and wandering the hallways aimlessly. Bones nods at me as I exit the medbay but I don't nod back…I'm not sure why I don't. Luckily, he doesn't take it personally. The older man turns back to his work and then talks quietly to a few nurses.

"Are you alright?" Spock and I make eye contact in one hall and he pulls me off the side. If I didn't know better, I'd say he looked worried.

"Yeah." I'm just freaking out.

What will we do if Marcus catches up? This is a stolen Star Ship. Everyone on board is labeled as a traitor by Star Fleet. If anyone sees us out here, they will attack, and I'm not sure we'll hold up long in battle. And I'm so sick of running, and hiding, and being afraid all the time. Why can't I just have a peaceful life? One without all this violence, and death, and blood shed?

Why can't we just go home?

**…**

It's night according the Earth's timezone. Most of the medical staff have retired to their dorms to catch what little sleep they can. Khan can hear a few of them wander past his room but none walk in to check on him; he terrified them. Only Bones has the nerve to enter this room, and he's currently sleeping in his own quarters.

Noah begins to wimper and cry and Khan sits up quickly. In a single stride, he crosses what little space there is between their beds and he quickly scoops the tyke into his arms. Noah curls into his chest and puts his tiny arms around Khan's stomach in a warm embrace. The moisture from his tears soaks into the thin fabric of Khan's white hospital gown but he doesn't care. He dips his head into the boy's soft black hair and holds him closer, but he's careful not to hurt the small boy.

"I miss mommy." Noah whispers as Khan rubs soothing circles into the boy's back, and the older Augment's breath hitches at the boy's quiet words.

For a few moments, he says nothing. He's swallowed by his own greif. He can still picture the scene in his mind and anger surges in his chest at the memory but Noah brings him back to himself.

"I want to go home," The boy whispers and Khan sighs into Noah's hair.

"I know," He says softly, his voice choked with emotion. "But we're safe here. Everything is going to be okay. You're going to be fine."

"And you?" Noah wiggles a little close and tilts his head up to look at his father and Khan offers him a small smile as a tear slides down his face and falls onto Noah's pale and tiny forehead.

"I'll be fine."

"And Ze'eva? She's nice; she taught me how to play Poker and I win every time." Noah grins widely.

Khan chuckles and carries the boy to Khan's bed. He lays down and scoots over to give Noah room and then wraps his arm protectively around the small boy. "Everyone is going to be okay."

"Promise?" Noah blinks sleepily up at Khan and Khan nods.

"I promise." They're silent for so long that Khan begins to think the boy fell asleep until Noah speaks up again; Khan groans inwardly. Why is the world so against him having a good night's sleep?!

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Noah?"

"Is mommy in heaven?"

Silence.

"Daddy?" Noah sounds a little worried but Khan can't voice the words. How was he supposed to know if she was there or not?

"Dad?" Noah sounds a little worried. "Is she?"

"Yes," Khan says finally. "She is."

"And she's watching over us?"

"She is." Khan swallows down the lump in his throat and takes a deep breath to try to relieve some of the pressure building up in his chest. What's wrong with him? He's crying, he has lumps in his throat, his chest is tight…is he getting sick? "Get some sleep."

Delicious silence.

"Daddy?"

Khan groans irritably. "Yes, son? What is it now?"

"Good night. And happy Hanukkah." The boy yawns widely and Khan gives him a confused look. Noah frowns back at him.

"Noah?" Khan frowns a little at the boy.

"Yeah?"

"We're not Jewish." Khan smirks and the boy giggles.

"Oh…um, goodnight." Noah kisses him on the cheek and burrows into the covers quickly.


	27. Chapter 27

**Sorry for the long wait: was busy with the holidays.**

**Chapter 27**

I'm not really sure what's wrong. He seemed fine yesterday. He was sitting up and bickering with Bones, but now Khan seems to be incredibly weak and feeble. A high fever ravishes his body and he's completely delirious. The poor guy is so weak, he can't even sit up by himself. Right now, he's laying down in his bed, staring blearily up at the ceiling with half opened, unseeing eyes. He blinks slowly, his eye lids getting heavier and heavier, but Bones assures me that he will be okay.

He's just tired and needs his rest.

That's all.

His breathing evens and eyebrows turn down into a frown. I watch as his eyes move beneath his eyelids but they don't open. Is he drugged or sick?

The next day, he wakes up, but he's still weak. Noah cuddles into his side while Bones checks his vital signs: his temperature is still feverish and breathing is still slightly shallow. We pull Noah away; there's no sense in him getting ill as well.

"What's wrong with daddy?" His tiny voice wobbles.

"I'll be fine, son. Go play." Khan rasps. He looks pale. Deathly pale.

"Will you be okay?" Noah's ocean blue eyes swallow Khan's.

"Yes." His voice is no louder than a whisper. "I will."

Noah smiles and squeezes Khan's fingers with his own: "I'll be back late. Get better soon,"

Noah smiles and waves before dashing outside to bombard Kirk with endless questions. I watch him as he jogs out of the medbay with the Captain and disappears. Bones moves and fusses and Khan like a cantankerous mother hen and Khan, too weak to push him aside, is forced to put up with it. Tiredly, his eyes follow the doctor's movements as he takes a blood sample and then pushes some antibiotics through his IV. Bones leaves to examine his sample before again taking Khan's temperature and putting a wet rag to the other man's forehead.

"What are you looking at?" Khan asks tiredly.

"You. What's it look like, pops?" I shoot back and he smiles slightly before allowing his face to return to its normal neutral state. "You know," I continue conspiratorially. "I'd be careful if I were you and listen to the old doctor. He may be human, but he's a force of nature to be reckoned with. And more than a little crazy."

"It seems we are in complete agreement."

"I heard that!" Bones shouts from the other room.

I throw my hand in front of my mouth as I laugh as I watch Khan try to swallow a chuckle—it doesn't work out so well. His icy blue eyes shine with life and I smile crookedly: he was going to be okay. Whatever this thing was, Khan would beat it.

"Heard what, you old bat?!" I yell back and I can her him grumble angrily under his breath about lazy ingrates or something. "So, how was your day?" I ask Khan and yawns widely.

"Wonderful," He says sarcastically. His eyes droop and his head sinks back into the pillow. A minutes later, he's snoring softly and his chest rises and falls as large gusts of air rush in and out of his powerful lungs.

"About time he feel asleep," Bones grumbles as he walks back in and puts a fresh rag on his forehead. "He needs his rest; if you wake him up, I will hunt you down." He warns before leaving and I roll my eyes. He can 'hunt me down' all he wants, but I'm the faster runner so, I doubt anything will come of it.

**…**

Now, Bones is feeding Khan a bowl of warm broth. Cassie is in the other room playing Poker with Noah so he doesn't see his father in this state. He's barely conscious and his movements are slow and automatic. Bones pushed a few more pillows behind his head and upper back to force him into a sitting position so that he doesn't choke on the broth.

I sit on the floor with my elbows resting lightly on my knees as I try to sink into the floor/make myself as small as possible in order to avoid detection. So far, it's not working. Darn it! Some random nurse in a blue dress thing brought in a tray of food for him earlier and Bones fed him everything but the pudding.

I had stolen the pudding, and I think the old bat knows.

Bones keeps shooting suspicious glances at me as I eye the new pudding cup cautiously. I want to eat it, but getting it may prove disastrous: the crazy old man might taze me if I attempt it…or worse: attack me with a hypospray. Those things are evil. It's been a while since I've been trapped and experimented on in a Sector 31 facility, but to this day, I still don't trust needles.

Or doctors.

"So, Cassie. How badly is he beating you?" I catch Noah's eyes and he giggles.

"Shut up!" Cassie snaps at me and he giggles louder. "I swear, this kid is cheating somehow." I smile secretively: I might have sort of taught him how to hide all the aces in his sleeves.

"Aw, Cassie. For shame, Cassie. For shame. You're blaming an innocent toddler on your lack of playing ability on a poor, innocent child." I can barely contain my laughter. My Noah joins in but, as he throws his hands up, a hold cloud of cards fly out of his sleaves.

We.

Are.

So.

Dead.

"If I were you," Bones leans closer to me. "I'd run."

I barely have time to blink before Cassie is storming the room. Within minutes, I'm on my feet and out the door. The doctor roars as chuckles fly past his lips and I can feel Khan's eyes burning into my back but I don't dare turn to look back at him. Turning would slow me down, and this would get me mauled by a psychotic human.

I run—literally—into Kirk in the hallway but I quickly push past him and dart around the corner with Cassie at my heels. She yells profanities loudly at my back but she can't keep up. Little by little, I gain ground and rush to hide in engineering. Scotty gives me a weird luck but says nothing as I crouch down behind the ships engine. Cassie wanders down here, searches for a minute, and then leaves. Slowly, the Scotsman approaches me and drops down to a knee as he leans in close.

"Do I want to know, lassie?" Scotty whispers quietly when she disappears.

"I taught a kid how to cheat at poker. She now owes that kid a couple hundred dollars." I say. He laughs and pounds hard on my back.

"That be the way to do it, lassie." He says and I nod at him before slinking back to the medbay.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Laughter, quiet and bubbly. A soft murmur. The dull patter of bare feet hitting the cold floor and shuffling across the room. Noah slides into view and I watch as he crawls slowly onto Khan's bed and burrows into his father's side. Noah's smiling, his eyes glowing, as Khan pulls him close and rests his chin atop the small boys head. He's missed him. He still isn't feeling all that hot, but, for Noah's sake, he isn't even letting on that he's ill. As long as Bones doesn't catch him, Noah will never know.

"This is cheating, you know." Cassie looks at me and I shrug.

"If he didn't see the kid soon, he was going to destroy the ship and everyone on it. I figured it be better to sneak the boy in."

"And risk the wrath of McCoy the Great and Terrible?" A corner of her lips curls upwards and I hide my own smile.

"Hey, if we're caught, I already have my escape plan all mapped out."

"Oh, really? And what would this grand plan entail exactly?"

"Blaming you and running."

"You suck." She elbows me lightly in the ribs.

"Perhaps," I agree. "But I'll be the only one who survives."

Cassie sneaks Noah out of the room just as Bones slips into view. I nod at him and shift uncomfortably as he passes by. He raises a curious eyebrow at me but says nothing. Cassie pauses to roll her eyes at me bother mouthing "smooth". Then, she's gone.

"How are you feeling? Weak? Dizzy? Nausea?"

"I'm fine." Khan says firmly but Bones merely rolls his eyes at him.

"Your vitals are all over the place. Try again."

"Slightly nauseous." Khan admits finally in defeat but his eyes burn stubbornly. Bones looks like he's about to smack the man but he settles instead of curling his hands into fists and examining his instruments closely.

"Anything else?" He prods. Khan says nothing. "The faster I figure out what's wrong with you, the faster you get better: the faster you get better, the faster I can shoot your butt out the airlock and wave my goodbyes."

Khan sighs, "Lightheaded. Feverish."

"Now I have to ask you a series of standard questions. Bear with me here: it's protocol. Do you have any allergies?"

"Do I look like someone who has any allergies, _doctor_?"

"A simple yes or no would suffice, but thanks anyway." Bones snaps sarcastically.

Cold blue eyes narrow: "No."

"Are you pregnant or nursing?" Bones stares down at his tricorder as he speaks.

"No." Khan glares at him.

"Have you been on drugs in the past month? Or been anywhere that would have given you some type of deadly and/or exotic parasite?"

"_Also no_." I think Khan is going to attack the poor man. "If I were you," Khan interupts as Bones opens his mouth to ask another question. "I would stop at that one. It may be detrimental to your health should you ask another question, _doctor_."

Bones inhales deeply and sighs. His brown eyes roll heavenwards, "I can't ever get an easy patient can I?" He shakes his head. "Alright, I'm going to take another blood sample and send more broth your way. Eat all of it. If you feel like puking," He smashes a small trash can onto Khan's bed irritably. "Then this will be your best friend." He takes his sample and storms away.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask and Khan shrugs.

"I sense nothing off. Must be his sparking personality peeking through."

"Good thing you were here to say 'hi' before it slipped away, never to be seen from again." I joke and he smirks slightly.

"Why is it they allow you in here but not my son?"

"I have a better immune system and nowhere better to go."

"Well that makes me feel better. Made me almost feel as if someone cared about me," He rolls his eyes at me and I stick my tongue out at him.

"Almost." I point out and he eyes a pillow on the table next to his bed.

"Don't you even—" I'm cut off as the pillow flies across the room and hits me squarely in the chest. I fall backwards onto the floor and blink up at him in surprise, my mouth wide and gaping. He roars with laughter and I go to throw the pillow back at him when Bones steps back into the room.

"Stop harassing my patient!" He snaps.

"Me? Harassing him? Where were you two minutes ago?"

"I will sedate you." He threatens.

"How? You're both blind and deaf. What are you going to do? Throw the hypospray through the air and pray it hits me?" Seriously! The walls are made of glass! He could have seen the entire thing! Blind old geezer!

"Don't make me go over there." The doctor hands Khan a bowl of broth and then winks at me before leaving. I am so confused right now. What just happened here? Did he just…smile? Okay, I must be sick. Or dying. Bones McCoy doesn't joke around…does he?

**...**

"Hey, Noah." I wave to the boy as I head towards the cafeteria. "How goes it?"

He smiles, "Daddy is getting awesome!" He skips a little as he heads towards me and I pick him up into a hug.

"Is he now?" I ruffle his hair and he giggles.

"Yes!"

"Awesome!" I put him down beside me. "Want to come with me to get something to eat?"

"Can we bring something back for Daddy?"

"Sure, what?"

He thinks for a moment, "A cupcake!"

Khan Noonien Singh, a viscous warlord and mass murderer likes cupcakes? Really?

"For real?"

"Yes!" He jumps up and down and I nod slowly.

"Okay, yeah. If they have some." I agree hesitantly.

**…**

They have cupcakes on this thing. Who knew, right? Noah picks out a large one with blue icing and sprinkles. Kirk, who is behind me in line, raises an eyebrow at us when we grab three more of varying colors.

"Hey, save some for the rest of us!" He jokes and I grin at the blond.

"That an order, Captain?" I ask and Noah laughs quietly behind his hand.

"Oh,, you better believe it," Kirk smiles and I grab two more.

"There. See? There's one left." I smirk and he narrows his eyes at me playfully. They'll have made more in mere seconds. It's not like I've stolen the last of their precious desserts.

I walk away with our try and Noah practically sprints to keep up. I find a table in a far corner that's deserted and plop our food down. Noah grabs his cheeseburger and I eye my own. I don't quite trust the food on this ship yet but various people have reassured me that it's perfectly safe. This burger looks strange though…

Oh, well.

I'm hungry.

We eat quickly and gather the desserts up into a small take-out container. I eat one as we walk back to the medbay. Bones eyes our little box and takes one cupcake as ransom for safe passage into Khan's room. Noah explodes onto the bed and Khan catches him expertly and set him down gently beside him.

"Look, Daddy!" He pushes the cupcakes at him and Khan chuckles at the manic excitement gleaming in his son's eyes as the boy practically bounces up and down on the bed. Through the glass, I see Bones roll his eyes at us and mumble under his breath, but he still eats our little _bribe_…err, _'peace offering'_ to let Noah come in.

I bet the old doctor will love me tomorrow when I stick him with Noah Watch Duty tomorrow. Cassie is growing tired of watching the kid and Kirk has been too busy lately. Since Khan is the only patient here (besides an ensign with a pulled muscle) the poor doctor will be bored out of his mind…

Yeah, he's going to kill me.

It's a good thing I have Khan to hind behind.


End file.
